


Daisy Saves the World!

by NightWorker



Category: Splatoon
Genre: Alcohol, Canon Compliant, Comedy, Daisy is a bit of an airhead, Exposition, F/F, Marie drinks a bit, My First Fanfic, No Lesbians Die, Polyamory, Rating is just in case, dont worry about that one, even if characters are a bit ooc
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-18 19:40:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 32,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29248923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightWorker/pseuds/NightWorker
Summary: Daisy Hart, bored of the rolling blackouts as of late, follows an odd lady down a sewer drain and finds herself in quite the adventure! Talking to old ladies, saving cats, seducing cute girls! A retelling of Splatoon 2's Hero Mode from the point-of-view of an airheaded, bucket-loving, pigtailed lesbian.
Relationships: Agent 3/Agent 4 (Splatoon), Agent 3/Agent 4/Agent 8 (Splatoon), Agent 4 & Marie (Splatoon)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 36





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I should start off by saying this is just for fun, some dumb snippets and ideas I had while playing Heromode. Don't take it too seriously, this is basically a shitpost compilation-turned-fanfic. The story is also done, it's just a matter of transferring it from Discord onto AO3. It's also my first posted story on here, so I can't wait to see where I messed up in the formatting~!
> 
> Scenes are separated by the ===== for easier scene transitions. And because I'm a bit lazy to understand line breaks in html code.
> 
> Also, Daisy is 20 instead of the in-game character age of ???. Helps explain her... physique.

Daisy sighed as she stared up at the ceiling of the apartment, doing absolutely nothing. She wasn't always doing nothing; just earlier today, she spent the morning cleaning around the living room and the kitchen, and already was halfway through her and her girlfriend's laundry. She was doing nothing now because the place was clean. It was also a slow day, so it was unlikely Rose or Lilly were gonna ask her help at their places of work today.

_Bzzt-bzzt_

...Oh yeah, and then there were the power outages happening lately. Despite it being the middle of the day, the lights have been flickering since morning. She just gave up trying to change the clocks back and play games. She already lost her save data twice...

Daisy was bored, and that wasn't a good thing with someone with energy like her. Switching out the laundry again and hoping the power wouldn't go off mid-cycle once more, the blonde inkling took off towards the Square. Turf War without her girlfriends felt wrong, like she was cheating somehow, but she couldn't sit still and do nothing! She did bring her cellphone if they tried to call her though.

=====

"Oh carp..." Daisy whined. Her third attempt at breaking scores in SquidBeatz foiled again by these heckin' blackouts! And now she was out of change... letting out a disappointed sigh, she wandered away from the blackened machine, wondering which lovely lass she should visit in her spare time...

...When she watches a person go down a sewer drain in the distance.

"Oh gosh!" Always wanting to be helpful, she ran over and quickly yeeted-- yote?-- herself down the drain to save the person!

=====

_thonk_

"Owww..." Daisy had landed right on her forehead when she came out the other end. Not the first time she's landed on her face, but it still stung...

"Hey, you showed up... Are you alright?" Despite the tears at the corner of her eyes, Daisy looked up and nodded while the woman composed herself. "I knew you would follow me. As soon as I saw you aimlessly wandering around the square, I knew you were the one."

"Yeah, people call me that a lot," Daisy replied with a nod.

"What, 'the one'?"

"No, aimless~"

"..." She closed her eyes and inhaled. No time for finding someone else, time was limited. "Anyway... I'm Marie, from the Squid Sisters. I know you're probably a bit starstruck, but I need you to get over it," she warned, striking her signature "Stay Fresh!" pose.

"..."

"...?"

There was a lingering moment of silence between the two before Daisy finally spoke up. "...Who?"

Marie was rather shocked at the question, not even bothering to hide her surprise. Was that supposed to be a joke? "Wh-- You've never heard of me? For eel? Popstar extraordinaire?"

Thinking for a moment, Daisy tilted her head to the side, a bit perplexed. "Have we met before?"

"Wh-- No!" Marie had a sour look on her face, clearly the result of this insane child pinching a few nerves of hers. "Well, you obviously aren't very cultured, but you'll have to do." Marie cleared her throat and started to explain. "You see--"

Daisy was completely zoning out at that point, not paying attention. Instead, she's thinking about Rose when she gets in her 'sniper mode'. Her relaxed yet poised posture, her calculating stare, the way her tongue flicks over her lips before she pulls the trigger~

"So, what do you say? Will you help me?"

Then there's Lilly, how graceful she moves when avoiding ink. It's like watching her dance~ Every movement so fluid~ How many times has Daisy gotten splat because she was distracted watching Lilly glide across the field~?

"Um?"

Some people thought it was a touch odd for three girls to be dating one another. Daisy had certainly been skeptical at first, only because she never knew that had been an option from the start! Cuddles were so much more comfortable between two lovely ladies, she could give them both all the smooches she wanted... Though they were quite a threat to be reckoned with in Turf War, needing to rely on a rando for a full team seemed to hold them back. If only they had a fourth girlfrien-- er, teammate!

"Sooooo..." After a moment of silence from her recruit, Marie shook her head; this was taking too long. "I'll take your stunned silence as a yes." With that, she threw a bundle of clothing and a gun to Daisy, snapping the girl out of her daydreaming as she struggled to hold everything. "As part of your signing on, we're including this outfit as a bonus! Go ahead and put it on, there's plenty of room in the--"

"Ooh~ Fresh~!" Daisy cheered at her gift, getting undressed right then and there so she could try on her new threads!

"...cabin." Marie sighs and looks away, hiding her blushing cheeks. Seriously, what was up with this chick?

=====

_pap pap **pop**_  
...  
 _fshhhhhh-ding!_  
 _pap pap **pop**_  
...  
 _fshhhhhh-ding!_  
 _pap pap **pop**_  
...  
 _fshhhhhh-ding!_  
 _pap pap **pop**_  
...  
 _fshhhhhh-ding!_  
Marie cleared her throat, watching the new 'Agent 4' shooting down the vicious balloons at the edge of the platform. "...Hey, maybe you wanna start looking for those kettles?"

"In a minute! I'm trying something~" Daisy called back, resuming her shooting practice.

 _pap pap **pop**_  
...  
_fshhhhhh-ding!_  
_pap pap **pop**_  
...  
_fshhhhhh-ding!_

"...You know those don't run out, right? They're just for training."

"Oh, we'll see about that~"

 _pap pap **pop**_  
...  
_fshhhhhh-ding!_  
_pap pap **pop**_  
...  
_fshhhhhh-ding!_  
_pap pap **pop**_  
...  
_fshhhhhh-ding!_  
...Marie sighed. This was going to be a long day, wasn't it?

=====

Marie hummed as she looked around. Agent 4 had been inking up the place, likely to get used to her Heroshot, but now she just seemed to... vanish?

Good. Maybe she had found an Octarian lair and was already making progress--

"Sneak attack!" _Pap pap!_

Marie just opened her umbrella behind her, blocking the 'sneak attack' as Daisy jumped down from the top of the cabin. "I told you to stop shooting at me," she sighed, flicking the ink off her accessory.

"Aww, what?! How..." Daisy whined, eyeing the invincible defense the older inkling possessed.

"You need to wake up early to get the best of me, Agent 4--" 

Suddenly, the blonde tossed a splat bomb behind Marie before shooting at her once again, the idol pulling up her umbrella to block the Hero Shot's spray. The sub weapon went off, as she had planned.

"Haha! Yes~"

Marie flicked the ink off her umbrella once more, her body completely ink-free. "As I was saying..."

"Aww, WHAT?! HOW?!"

=====

"Hmm... I think I'm lost..."

Daisy stared at a bulletin board in Tentakeel Outpost, looking over the words and other such details. Was she even reading a map? That didn't really matter for long though, as suddenly, something caught her attention! Something round and floaty!

"Balloon~!" she cried out happily. Of course she shot at it, popping it instantly... only for another to appear behind her! She continued to shoot and follow the trail of randomly appearing balloons, up the ramp, tripping over the boss kettle, running down by the ledge, and up the wall onto a scaffolding. "Come back, friend~!"

One more balloon in her sights! She shot the wall and--

"OH COD GROUND!"

Suffice to say, she missed the part where she was supposed to jump. Currently, the little yellow inkling was hanging from one of the bars of the same scaffolding she fell off, a sheer drop into Octo Canyon looming below her.

"...G-granny...? Can I get some help...?"

 _"You better not be talking about me!"_ Marie called over the headset. Daisy didn't have time to respond as her grip slipped, dropping the girl into the abyss...

And bringing her back at to sewer grate, which handily doubled as a spawn point. Daisy was on all fours, on the verge of crying from her near-death experience while Marie stared down at her. "...So. Back already?"

Daisy later went back and repopped all the balloons. She got a sticker for her efforts. Totes worth it~

=====

"Bonk~ Bonk~ Bonk~ Bonk~"

Daisy was currently in her squid form, running into the odd barrier of glass bottles she found protecting a super jump pad. The barrier sent her flying back a few feet unharmed, so naturally she found a new thing to play with.

There was a bit of a gap around the edges though. Maybe, if she were very careful going around the sides, she could see the back and...

Either losing her balance or suffering from a case of Joycon drift, she was sent her careening to her right and into the barrier, causing her to bounce back off the cliff and into the abyss.

And bringing her back at to sewer grate, which handily doubled as a spawn point. Daisy was on all fours, on the verge of crying from the betrayal of her fun bouncing wall while Marie stared down at her. "...I see you have nothing better to do..."

=====  
**Return of the Octarians: Rescue the Zapfish!**

Daisy did eventually find a kettle, naturally, by following the sound of music coming from it before tripping over the cloaking device. Her face hurt again...

Marie was giving her instructions through the headset, which was... weird. Did she not think Daisy knew how to play turf war before coming here? Either way, all was hunky dory until she spotted her first octarian.

"Oh! Friend or foe~?" she asked, standing right in front of it. It chose to respond by shooting a single bubble of ink at her, staining her jacket with a splotch of magenta ink.

"..." She was quiet for a moment, staring down at the magenta stain on her Hero Hoodie before slowly starting to tear up. Which quickly devolved into gross sobbing. "Granyyyyyy! It _*hiccup*_ ruined my new suiiiiiit~!"

The octarian did not know how to respond to this scene. Marie did: she started rummaging through the cabin, looking for where the Cap'n hid his booze stash. He wouldn't miss a few shot glasses-- or half a bottle's worth-- was missing.

=====

_"Alright, get that calamari ring."_ Daisy did as the other Agent ordered, jumping up and grabbing the hand-sized deep fried ring out of the air with her mouth. _"Cool. Alright, full speed ahead!"_

Daisy did not this time, instead standing where she was, chewing the ring.

_"...Um?"_

"Gimme a shec~ Ah'm eatin'~" she replied, speaking with a full mouth.

_"...Agent 4, you can finish it later--"_

"I can't actually," she interrupted, swallowing the first bite of the ring. "Rosy always sneaks off with my leftovers. At least, I think it's Rosy, but I don't really know, so I have to finish my meals in one sitting or I don't get to finish them~"

_"..."_

Marie sat flabbergasted at the girl's reasoning, baffled trying to understand how this airheaded child had ended up as the next potential savior of Inkopolis. If they could even get that far... The sound of chewing over the headset certainly wasn't helping the idol's mood. _"...Look, if you aren't going to hurry, can you at least chew quietly...?"_ she begged, starting to dread how many rings were in this one stage alone.

"Sowwy--" Daisy apologized before swallowing once more. "Sorry~!"

=====

Marie was there to greet Daisy as she emerged from the kettle, zapfish in hand. Honestly, she was amazed she had cleared the level without getting splat. "Well done, Agent 4. Inkopolis might not be doomed after all--"

"Balloon~!"

Congrats were perhaps a bit preemptive as Daisy gave the zapfish to Marie and jumped for a blue balloon behind the woman, grabbing it by the string. As gravity took its course, she started floating gently downward... off the cliff and into the abyss.

"...Help. Help! _Help! **Help!**_ "

Marie sighed and put her free hand to her forehead as Daisy dissolved, carrying the little battery-fish back to the sewer grate. "Maybe I spoke too soon..."

=====  
**Welcome to Octopia: The Summer Wind Rises**

The second Daisy popped up in the second kettle, she spotted an odd dog-like thing? She wasn't sure, it was just waddling in circles until she walked up to it.

"Friend or foe-- GAH!"

Naturally, it blew up like an auto bomb, damaging her Hero Jacket. _"Agent 4, from now on, assume everything here is a foe except for the zapfish."_ Marie suggested, burying her face in her hands. How was she already this tired...

Daisy had her own problems though, shivering as a breeze blew past. "...Granny, I'm naked..."

"Give it a few seconds, your jacket should reform momentarily," Marie said, assuming (incorrectly) that Daisy was wearing underwear.

"Kaykay..." she whined, waiting patiently for her outfit to reform.

...She wasn't gonna lie though, it was kinda exciting being out in the open like this~ Maybe she could talk Lilly or Rose into joining her someday~

=====

With her modesty recovered, Daisy's next obstacles were the sponges. A simple concept to understand, shoot one with ink to make them expand. Hardly an issue to overcome.

No, Marie's problem this time was having to watch Daisy shoot a sponge to full size, only for an Octarian to shoot it once and make it shrink... Then Daisy shoots the sponge again to full size before the Octarian fires another shot, the sponge acting as a wall protecting the Agent from enemy fire. And again and again, the cycle repeated...

 _"Oh cod, please just shoot the Octarian instead. Please..."_ She didn't know how many kettles they would need to go through to reach the Great Zapfish, and that terrified her...

=====

_"That's a Squee-G. They suck up ink, but they're pretty harmless."_ While Marie explained, Daisy stared at the odd machine on the wall, watching it just sorta vibin'. At least until she shot at the wall, then it went into action, cleaning up her ink with vigor!

"Hey gr--"

_"No, you can't keep it."_

"Aww..."

=====  
**Sunset Octotrooper: Dash and Jump**

_"Step on that dash track. Trust me on this."_ Well Daisy had no reason not to trust Marie, so she did as she was told-- and was sent across over the platforms, her unpreparedness making her end up landing like a ragdoll on the other side. How many more times was she going to land on her face today...?

With a whine she sat up and rubbed at her face, just in time to watch a bubble of ink stain the ground next to her. The sound of a propeller had caught her attention as she looked up, spotting a hovering Octotrooper taking aim at her! She knew how to deal with Octarians by now though: by shooting them until they popped! Only her attempt at shooting was a bit pitiful, the stream of ink shots arching in the air and plopping onto the ground before they could even reach the Trooper. _"You're... going to have to get closer. The Hero Shot doesn't have that great of a range."_

"Kaykaaay~" Despite the advice, trying to jump and hop towards the flying Octotrooper didn't seem to be working. In fact, it seemed to be floating further away from the blonde's attempts. 

Marie sighed and shook her head, looking around for where she placed the Cap'n's whiskey. _"I miss Agent 3..."_

=====

_"Ooh! A ride rail."_ Marie didn't see many of these in turf war, so she could imagine Daisy would enjoy this. _"Shoot it to turn it on, then jump on and enjoy the ride."_

Daisy was, understandably, a bit skeptical after the last nifty thing the older agent had shown her. Still, there was no other way across, so she hopped onto the rail and rode to the next platform. It was... actually fun~ She was used to keeping balance thanks to her... top-heavy 'assets', so staying on the rail wasn't too difficult!

 _"Nicely done! Now jump to that squid ring!"_ Marie's orders led to another dash track, though knowing what was coming helped give Daisy confidence! Having a treat as a reward for succeeding wasn't too bad for incentive either~

"Nomf!" Catching the ring in her mouth mid-jump, the blonde actually stuck the landing the second time around, pumping her fists into the air in success! 

_"Alright, let's keep rolling. You can swim in ink to help you jum--"_ Marie stopped when she realized her agent wasn't paying attention anymore. Instead, she was going back to the dash track, launching herself over with an excited squeal before doing it over again. 

Letting out a slow sigh through her nose, Marie rubbed her forehead and reached for the nearest bottle, not caring if it was water or booze at this point. Well, she was right in thinking Daisy would enjoy these sorts of things. She just didn't expect how much time she would waste because of them.

=====

_"Ink pistons. I don't recommend you touch those."_

Daisy nodded absentmindedly as she watched the pink ink rollers spin and retract into the walls. Though she couldn't help but wonder what it was like to touch one of them... _"No, but seriously- don't touch those."_ With Marie's warning, she knew it was best to just ignore them and do as she was told, deciding to move on in the stage. 

To her credit, she lasted about eleven seconds before 'accidentally' running into one of them, bouncing back with a pained squeak. "Eep! That hurt!"

_"What did I just say?!"_

=====

It had been a long trip, but after so long (at least it felt like a long time), the Zapfish was finally in sight! Just a straight shot past a set of dash tracks... and a number of ink pistons popping in and out of the walls between them. _"Remember to think before you leap."_

Wise words of advice, sadly it seemed Marie had forgotten who she was talking to. Daisy stared down the path, humming in thought as she considered when best to go. The second she stepped on the first dash track, she knew that was not the best time, the poor inkling flying through three pistons in a row before tumbling on the ground in front of the Zapfish. On the bright side, the rough landing only ate through the two armor sets Daisy had picked up instead of her Hero Jacket. "Owwww... Granny, my everything hurts..."

_"What did I say about calling me that?!"_

=====  
**Industrial Toast: Into the Octo Oven**

Daisy plopped into the boss kettle, looking around and noticing it was a tad different than the others. Not so much a maze of sorts, more of a stage of sorts? It was sorta boring, if she were honest. "Granny? Why's this called a 'Boss Kettle'?"

_"Cuz you're going to have to fight a boss here."_

"What's a boss?"

Marie thought for a second before shaking her head. Agent 4 would have to do things for herself once in a while. _"...I think you'll figure it out on your own."_

Before she could ask more silly questions, Daisy watched as a Zapfish was lowered towards a pool of ink... and pulled under by a massive tentacle! A shadowy figure emerged, going higher and higher and higher, until Daisy was sure her neck was going to get sore looking up at it. The Octo Oven screamed, alerting the world of its presence, and stared down at the pitiful intruder that would dare awaken it!

"..."

"..."

"...Friend or fo--" _**THWAP!**_

=====

"It's face is bread?" Daisy pondered aloud, well acquainted with one of those faces after it rammed into her seconds before.

 _"Seems like it,"_ Marie confirmed, watching the young agent run around the tower until all its faces were stuck outside the oven's protective shell. _"Agent 4! There's a tentacle on top of its head! What you need to do is--"_

"I got it~!"

...Marie was impressed. The girl seemed airheaded, but it looked like she was catching on fast.

"Nom nomomom nom~!"

...No, she was just clinging to the loaf and chewing on it. Now where did she put that bottle...

=====

_"Agent 4! Stop toying with it!"_ Despite getting to the top of the oven with relative ease, Daisy was just shooting the tentacle one slow shot at a time, giggling as she watched it expand and grow.

"But look~ It gets all squishy and big~! It's like a balloon--" She was stopped in her playing as the Octoweapon shook violently, hard enough to shake the young agent off the tower and into a puddle of magenta goop on the ground below.

 _"...!"_ Marie's silent fuming was quite loud over the headset somehow, making Daisy sheepishly kick the ink around her feet.

"...I'm sorry, Granny..."

=====

_"MMM! Cheeros!"_ Marie hummed as she watched several ink pistons get shot out of the Octo Oven before shaking her head. Maybe she should put the bottle down now. _"Wait, no, those are--"_

"FWEH?!"

_"...Columns of ink..."_

"I can'n fell mah tongue!"

=====

_"Donut stop! You knead to keep going!"_

"On it~!"

_"Good, but doughn't start loafing around, or things might go a rye!"_

"Gotcha~!"

_"...Seriously? Nothing?"_

"Huh???

=====

It was the final stage of the fight (at least Marie hoped so, given how much the Octarians seemed to like their rule of threes), and the Octo Oven seemed to pull out all the stops as several layers of non-inkable metal spread over several of the loaves. It was... quite a sight. _"Wait... Armored bread? But... armor? On bread?"_

"Makes sense to me."

_"IN WHAT WORLD DOES ARMORED BREAD MAKE SENSE?!"_

=====

Marie sighed as she took the last of the zapfish in this sector. She was actually surprised it was their first day still. It felt like it had taken them forever to get these kettles cleared... "Well, good job Agent 4. You should go home and get some rest for tomorrow."

Daisy, just finishing getting dressed back into her street clothes, gave a mock salute to the idol. "Will do, Granny~!"

...Was there even a point in correcting her by now? Marie just sighed and accepted her fate. "Right. Well, just a reminder. The Squidbeak Splatoon is a top secret organization. You can tell nobody about what you've seen here today, or what's going on behind the scenes. Got it?"

"Roger roger~!" the blonde agreed, nodding eagerly.

_**...an hour later** _

"--And I'm going by these things that look like that time Pearl put googly eyes on Marina's tentacles on April Fool's Day, and they, like, stain my jacket! But I shoot these puffer fish that explode into ink~! And then I fought this toaster that shot churros at me, but they tasted way terrible~! They stained my tongue magenta for a bit~! Anyway, that's how I save this old lady's cats~" Daisy puts a forkful of dinner into her mouth and looked around the dinner table at her girlfriends. At least her chewing has gotten quieter. "So how was your days today~?"

Lilly giggled, the colossal squid always finding her girlfriend's stories and antics so adorable~ When she spent all day working at her parent's floral shop or teaching ballet to little squids, it was always so nice to hear whatever mischief Daisy managed to get into to brighten her day. Even if it didn't always make sense. "Well, clearly not as fun as your's, by the sound of it. How about you, Rose?"

Rose on the other hand didn't know what to think. This was all happening so fast; she just didn't expect that one of her ditzy but lovable girlfriends essentially described what she went through two years ago. 

Truth was, outside of the cosmetic retail shop she worked at, Rose had a second job: she was Agent 3 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon, defeater of Octarians, savior of Inkopolis. For two or so years, she kept her life as an agent secret so she wouldn't worry her girlfriends about the danger she was involved with... Only for Daisy to stumble upon the secret organization in an afternoon! Darting her eyes between Daisy and Lilly as she nervously kept her fork in her mouth, Rose shrugged and did her best to try and keep calm. Maybe it was just a coincidence. "It was, uhh... Great... I guess... So Daisy, can you tell us more about this 'old lady' you met?"

"Hm? Ehh, she wasn't much. Kept insisting I knew her, but that's baloney. Never met an old lady like her before." It made sense, given Daisy had moved to Inkopolis around the time Off the Hook started becoming popular, so she wasn't drawn into the Squid Sister craze like most other squids. 

"Well what did she look like? Did she have greenish tentacles?"

"Ehh, a bit? Maybe that was her natural color at one point. They were mostly gray though~" Daisy shrugged, not sure why her girlfriend would be so interested in an old lady, but Rose was always a little weird like that. "She also had on this old-fashioned robe, so between that and her gray hair and how much she talked about 'the good days', she musta been getting on in her years~"

Rose's eyes widened, Daisy was definitely talking about Marie. She knew she was on authorized leave right now but she had to have a word with her, she couldn't begin to imagine how much Daisy would irritate the former idol if she wasn't there tomorrow to give her fellow agent a few warnings about how to deal with the erratic child. She really did love her, but she knew how the blonde might come off as to others.

Daisy is just clueless (what else is new?) as she continues snacking slowly on her dinner, not all too hungry thanks to the calamari rings she ate through the day. Right now, she was pondering if she should go back and visit the sweet granny tomorrow...


	2. Cover Art!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Story cover and a bonus comic!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check out my twitter @NightworkerA and give the original image a like, it's a place I hardly post. Though, uh, viewer discretion advised, there's some nsfw stuff hiding around. I'll start working on the next chapter soon!
> 
> Thanks for reading, and have a wonderful night.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daisy returns for another day of fun with Marie! The idol only wishes she could return the feeling... Thankfully, Agent 3 is here to lend her some (moral) support today!

Daisy was up bright and early the next morning (ie. Around 10 or so) and was already ready to head back to the canyon, giving each girlfriend a kiss before she left. She left a note on the table for the others, "Out helping granny from yesterday, got cell, call if you need me~" with a little doodle of herself giving a wink, and was on her way to the sewer grate from yesterday.

"Hiiii granny~!" she greeted with a cheer as she popped up in Tentakeel Outpost, unzipping her jacket so she could get changed.

Marie groaned and pressed an icepack to the side of her head, the girl's yelling not helping her early morning headache. Bet she wished she hadn't found Cap'n's booze now, huh? "Oh good. You came back," the Squidster muttered as she glanced away from the already stripping Agent 4.

"Of course~ Yesterday was, like, so fun, I wanted to see what was next in store~!"

"'Fun' is certainly an interesting way to put it..." Marie muttered, wondering how the agency of the end of the world apparently flew right over this girl's head. At least she was having fun... "There's a cannon that'll send you to the next area. I'll be there shortly..." Honestly, she just needed a few moments of quiet before handling another day of Daisy. It was going to take her a while to find a kettle anyway,

"Kaykaaaay~!" Dressed up in her agent gear, Agent Daisy ran off towards the super launch pad. She forgot her Heroshot though... Oh, whatever. Sheldon wanted her to try out weapons, right?

Marie let out a slow sigh, closing her eyes and enjoying the absolute silence, Daisy's screaming having scared off the birds. Finally, peace...

Only temporarily however as Rose leapt up through the grate, dressed in her hero gear and holstering her hero shot. "So what's this I hear about an Agent 4 that just so happens to be my girlfriend?" She wasn't alone though with Lilly following close behind; after Daisy had left, Rose decided she needed to tell her other girlfriend what she had been up to for the past two years in the Splatoon. Surprisingly, Lilly had been rather calm about the whole thing, a big relief for Agent 3.

Her first time in an NSS hideout, the taller inkling took her time looking around the scenery, holding a bag she needed to teach ballet today. She was a busy girl! "Oh! This place is lovely..."

Marie growled, squeezing her eyes shut as she heard someone talking again. "FIVE MINUTES, AGENT 4! Is it too much to ask for five minutes of quiet?!" Someone's having a bad hangover, Daisy's gonna kill Marie's kidneys at this rate.

The two jumped at the sudden yelling, Lilly being the first to speak up. "Oh! I'm sorry, ma'am. But we're not Daisy...?"

This got Marie to wake up, putting down the ice pack and sitting up to look over at the newcomers. "...Ah! Agent 3!" With actual guests showing up, Marie did her best to straighten out her kimono, lifting her parasol over her shoulder. "Sorry, I wasn't expecting you... Who is this?"

Lilly was taken aback, not expecting to meet someone as famous as Marie of the Squid Sisters. Apparently Daisy was the odd one out when it came to knowing celebrities. "Uh..."

Rose gave her a comforting smile to her girlfriend, quietly letting her know she can handle things. Being Daisy's girlfriend for the longest time, she knew how much it was to deal with the airhead. She walked over to Marie and put her hand on her shoulder in a comforting move. "That's my girlfriend, Lilly. Don't worry, our secret is safe with her, I just thought it was a good time to come clean about... all of this. It's going to be okay though, you'll see. Dealing with Daisy is a huge pain, I should know. But she wont hurt you, you gotta just power through it and help her as she helps you, it's like dealing with a child." Wrinkling her nose, Rose took a step back and shook her head, giving the idol an incredulous look. "And _oppfh_ you reek of liquor! You're already turning to booze?!"

Marie was certainly caught off guard by the hand on her shoulder, looking between the agent and the stranger as Rose tried to put her at ease. She was moreso surprised that they seemed to already know her Agent 4 better than she did! "Wha-- How--" Suddenly, it hit her. "...Oh my cod, how much did she tell you." It wasn't a question she wanted to know, but she asked it anyway. "No, wait, ignore the booze, that's not important! How on earth do you already know her?! I only found her yesterday!"

Rose looked back at Lilly, the two sharing a look that said 'we should tell her' before facing Marie again. "Well, me, Lilly and Daisy just so happen to be in a polygamous relationship. Long before you met Daisy."

"You're all dating?!" Marie was shocked, so much so she let her umbrella fall behind her. She wasn't sure what was more surprising, the fact she happened entirely by chance to recruit Agents 3's girlfriend, or that either one of them was bold enough to date poly...

Rose put her hand behind her neck in a show of awkwardness. "Yeah, we get those kinds of reactions a lot."

Lilly scratched her arm and kept quiet, she was clamming up really bad. How could she talk to someone like Marie?

Marie sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. This was something to mentally assess for later. "...Agent 3. Please don't tell gramps about this, whatever you do..."

"Of course!" Lilly giggles and nuzzles on Rose. She knew how to keep this relationship in check.

Rose kissed her cheek and nodded in agreement. "Oh we wouldn't dream of it! That's one of the first rules about being in that kind of relationship, don't tell older people."

Marie sighed and shook her head, trying her best to ignore how... cutesy they were being. "Not what I mean. You're relationship is your business. I mean, don't tell him why I had to recruit a new agent."

While Lilly still wasn't clear on what her girlfriends were doing out here, Rose had been keeping track of the missing zapfish-- and in a hopefully unrelated note, Callie's disappearance. Keeping the old man from finding out in the newspapers had been a bit of a handful for Agent 3, but at least she knew things were covered now. "Oh I'm sure he'll be okay with that, after you guys clean everything up."

Marie sighs and shakes her head, bending down to pick up her brella. "The menace of the Octarian Empire, Agent 3. Seduced by her replacement, of all things..." She lets out a small chuckle to show she's teasing. "Anyway, last thing he needs in his age is to find out the Great Zapfish has been taken again. I hope you understand that's why I didn't call you for this, Three. He would have gotten suspicious if you were doing agent work without his authorization."

"We understand," Rose nodded. "Daisy isn't the best choice, I'll admit, but she is more than capable. She acts like a child but she's determined."

"I'm just glad to know my girlfriends are in good hands~" Lilly agreed, warming up to the Squid Sister already.

"I certainly hope so," Marie huffed, rubbing her temple. She had to agree with Rose though, Daisy showed at least some promise in her skills... even if she was an airhead. "Though, I was surprised that she was able to take down a Great Octoweapon on her own, sans her constant... distractions. If I remember right, it took you quite a while to take down one zone in your hayday~"

Lilly giggles as Rose lets out a prideful huff, the two of them glad their blonde girlfriend wasn't in too much trouble.

Marie sighed and looked over towards where the second area was. Maybe they were right, she was just underestimating the kid. Daisy probably had things handled right now.

...

"WEEEE~!"

Daisy was currently over in Suction-Cup Depot, using a booster track on a wall to send her flying into the air... and straight back down into a puddle of green ink, so she could climb the wall and get shot up into the air again.

=====

**Spinning Campground: Ink Me Out, Ink Me In**

Thankfully, Daisy had already found a kettle by the time Rose and Lilly left, so Marie didn't have to come back to disappointment. _"The inkfurlers unfurl when you hit them with ink,"_ she instructed, watching Daisy shoot at one with her Hero Shot.

_pap-- bloblooblooblobloop!_

In response to the goofy sounds the obstacles gave off as they extended, the blonde started letting out excited squeeing~!

_"...I feel like this level might take a while..."_

=====

_"That's... a lot of inkfurlers..."_ Marie observed, watching Daisy going back and forth to unroll each of them until a bridge was made. She even had time for a detour, picking up a scroll before hopping back to the main path. _"You make this look easy."_ She admitted that she was a touch disappointed by that fact, given how clueless the girl has shown herself to be.

"That's cuz I got these ink furs in the bag~" Oh great, now she was gloating. Marie sighed and leaned back in her seat, safely in the Cabin drinking a lot of water. At least her headache from the morning was starting to go away.

_"I can see the zapfish from here!"_ This time, it was Sheldon that spoke up, reminding the girls that they had company now. As much as neither of them wanted it...

_"Thank you, Sheldon..."_ Marie muttered as she watched Agent 4 shooting at a row of Octotroopers. _"You can't shoot those shielded ones from the front..."_

"We'll see about that!" Despite Daisy's challenge, it wasn't as easy as she thought it would be. Turns out, running up to them and shooting at their shields wasn't such a good idea as she was forced to make a tactical retreat after they busted the spare armor she had found. Marie admired the girl's persistence, but she was wrecking havoc on her headache... Though between tossing bombs behind the Octarians and shooting at them from the front, Daisy had somehow managed to splat all four of them.

"S-see? Easy..." Daisy panted out, taking a breather after the ordeal she had put herself through. There had to have been an easier way of doing that, but she had already bragged about doing the hard way, so she didn't want to back down. Taking a look around her, she spotted a new inkfurler and shot at it, hoping it would lead the way to the next part of the stage.

...Only for it to unfurl _right into her_ , tossing her back and making her fly off the stage. A whine left Daisy as she respawned at the last pad, Octotroopers working to replace the soldiers that she had worked so needlessly hard to splat the first time.

_"...Sheldon, I'm going to lie down for a bit. Can you..."_

_"Babysit?"_

_"Please and thanks."_

=====

**Octoling Strike: Riot in the Reef!**

_"Octolings!"_ This was the moment Marie was dreading. The kid could handle mindless enemies like the Octarian footsoldiers, but Octolings were smarter, faster, and much more lethal. _"Alright, listen up. You need to collect those mini-zapfish around the field. They don't notice you yet, so we can get a headstart on them with a sneak attack. Just be very careful and--"_

"HELLO NEW FRIENDS~!"

Daisy was already halfway across the arena, and Marie was already reaching for the bottle. Maybe she should've sent Three to get her some more booze before they left her alone with their girlfriend...

=====

Between her attempts at getting absolutely plastered, Marie had remembered something about Agent 3. She only hoped they had bothered sharing their hobbies with Daisy... _"Okay, Agent 4! New plan! You know Turf War, right?"_

"Of course!" was her immediate and chipper reply, despite already getting splat once in her attempt to make friends. "I play with my girlfriends all the time~"

Thank cod Marie got warned of their relationship status beforehand... _"Well, think of this as Turf! You know the rules, only you get bonus points for getting the mini zapfish as you go."_

Daisy let out an excited gasp! "Bonus points~?! Alright~!" And she was off, inking turf and shooting at Octolings. With a surprising amount of skill, despite wielding a Heroshot instead of her usual sloshers at that. Honestly, why hadn't Marie thought of this before now? With progress being made once more, the idol took a chance to close her eyes and let a glass of water sober her up slightly.

**_TWEEEEEET!_ **

At least, for a few minutes before Daisy blew a whistle... Wait, where'd she get that whistle from? Why is she stopping?! _"Agent 4! You still have two zapfish left to get!"_

"No worry, granny~ Three minutes are up! I'll get them next game~" With a giggle, Daisy turned to wave at the other octolings still alive. "Good hustle, girls! Let's see who got the most turf-- BWEH!"

Of course, they splatted her, and Marie let out another long suffering sigh. So much for that plan...

=====  
**Octozeppelin Invasion: Time to Set Sail**

"Oh hey! Rose uses these~" Daisy looked over the charger in her hands, courtesy of Sheldon's pet project. Turns out, she was to practice with a whole new weapon she's never used before.

_"Charge up to shoot longer and hit harder!"_ Marie explained, puffing her chest with pride now that they were working with something she had experience with. _"Pro advice from a scope main such as myself~"_

"Oh granny! They had splatterscopes back when you were a kid~?"

_"..."_ If only she could get away with strangling a child. _"...You can also store shots and submerge in ink..."_

Daisy 'oooh'd and charged a shot before sinking under her ink. She was down there a good minute before coming back up and releasing the trigger. Suffice to say, nothing happened.

_"It wears out over time, smart one."_

"Aww, lame! How does Rosy make it look so easy and hot?!"

_"I'm... not so sure about that second part. But I'm sure she must have had an excellent instructor~"_ Marie smirked, happy to brag on her own skills with a scope when she had the chance. She still remembers when the Cap'n recruited Rose and how inexperienced she was with the charger.

"Maybe that person could train you, granny! Not like you got much else to do in your old age~"

...Okay. That one hurt a little.

=====

"Ooooh~" Daisy 'ooooh'd a second time that day as she watched the fan-powered platforms move across the air. An impossible feat of science and logic, but with how many floating platforms and shit there was in these kettles, it was no longer a surprise. All she had to do was step on this platform, shoot the next one, and step over! She visualized the steps over in her head repeatedly before aiming for the second fan... and trying to avoid the massive Octo Zeppelin buzzing on by between the two.

No prob--

"OH COD GROUND!"

...She miss-timed her steps over, underestimating her jumping ability and missed the second platform as the two slowly drifted away from each other. Whining in annoyance, she quickly made her way back to where she was, pushing the first platform as far as it would go before aiming her scope--

_click click_

...Before sinking into a puddle of ink and refilling her tank as the platform drifted back. How Rose could balance charging shots, not running out of ink, and actually hitting her targets while she and they moved was beyond the little agent. "Why couldn't this be a bucket room? Just aim and throw. Dumb Sheldon and his dumb weapons..."

_"...I can hear you speaking, you know."_ Ignoring Sheldon like any sane person, Daisy shot her platform over, aiming for the second fan once again--

And forgot to watch out for Octo Zeppelins as one came right at her.

"Oh cod! No hugs! Not right now!" Daisy sunk into her ink puddle, the second platform too far away to jump to and her own drifting backwards... right into the weaponized Octarian. For some reason, hiding in a puddle didn't work, as she ran out of room on the platform and it exploded. Pushing her off. Again.

"AaaaAAAAA _AAAGH!_ MOTHER FFFFFATHER! Dirty clam bake son of a horseshoe ash hatted fat **fart!"**

_"...I should probably warn you not to fall off again. These respawn pads only have a limited charge."_ Marie wished she wasn't enjoying this as much as she was, but what could you do~?

=====

She did manage to get past that part somehow, avoiding the smaller missiles much easier, and made her way to the final checkpoint.

"Oh cod, why..." Only to get filled with despair at the obstacles before her. One fan-powered platform sat not too far away, and despite how airheaded she could seem at times, she could at least figure out what she had to do: push her platform closer to the pillar with the zapfish on top, and shoot the grapple hook, all while avoiding zeppelins flying out of the pillar and right for her... "Who designed this level?!"

_"This will take quite a bit of precision and timing to pull off,"_ Marie warned as Daisy looked over her options... Nope, she's had enough of pretending to be like Rosy for one afternoon. _"I suggest you start with... Wait, what are you--"_

Daisy pulled out the special can she had got earlier, not having seen a reason to use it until this point. Yanking out a Stingray, she fired towards the zapfish-- and caught the grapple hook sitting above it, pulling her past the puzzle and to the end.

"Woomy~!" Daisy cheered at her genius plan to cheese the level, squidbagging on the competition below her!

_"...That's cheap, however I'm more annoyed at how clever it was coming from you."_

=====

Daisy hummed as she tinkered with her heroshot using the oddball station Sheldon left. It took every egg she had gathered, but apparently it was worth it for better firing rate or something? Seeing the screen telling her it was 'Maxed Out', the ditz took her gun back and walked to the edge of the platform. Turning and aiming at the strongest target balloon, she held down the trigger. Let's see how long she can--

_papapapappapapapapapappapapapapapapapapapapapapapa--_ **pop** _papapapapapappapapapapapappapapapapap--_ **pop** _papapapapapapappapapapapappapapapapap--_ **pop** _papapapapapappapapap-- clickclickclickclickclick_

"...Thirteen seconds~" she giggled before shaking her arms. "Oh gosh, I can't feel my hands..."

=====  
**Enter the Octohurler: Let it Roll!**

Daisy groaned as she lifted the heavy roller in her hands, hefting it in front of her. "...It's heavy..."

_"Get used to it, Agent 4, I need that data!"_ Surprisingly, that comment came from Sheldon, so Daisy immediately tuned out the rest of the conversation. Eh, she could figure this out on her own! She was pretty smart!

...Well that's what she tells herself anyway.

Besides, she's seen roller mains when turfing with the gals, so how hard could it be to imitate them? First she did the basics: lifting it up and putting it down. A pretty wide attack, sure. Then she took a few steps forward, and was surprised at the amount of ink she was leaving behind. Somehow, it was inking ground faster than a bucket! Granted, it was inking the ground behind her instead of in front, but ink was ink! Then there was the vertical swing~ Or was it horizontal... She always got the two confused. Regardless, she swung the roller above her head, jumped up, and...

Fell on her back, Newton apparently giving her the middle finger of trying to swing something this heavy above herself. "...Granny. Can I have my gun back?"

_"Wh-- What are you doing laying around?! Get to work, Agent 4!"_

=====

The rollium was easy to understand, even for someone like Daisy. Smack it and send it flying in one direction, simple. She was now hiding behind one such stack as she waited for two Octarians to line up, moving side to side on ink scrub... slider things. Seeing her chance, she swung the roller downward, taking out the first, before moving over to the second stack. Just like the first, it took out the remaining Octarian... but instead of breaking apart, it hit the edge of the slider, bouncing into the air and flying off into the distance.

Daisy and (through her headset cam) Marie watched it disappear, not really sure how it had defied physics like that. _"Where... did it go?"_

Daisy continued staring off at the horizon... until several salmonid eggs flew into her tank with the rest. "Yay~!"

_"What."_

=====

  
_"Ugh, an Octo Bomber. Pasteurize this dirtbag!"_  
  


Daisy whined behind her cover, sending a rollium into one of the smaller Octotroopers. "Granny, that's gross and lewd..."

_"...What on earth did you think I said?!"_

Unable to reveal the secrets of her inner machinations, Daisy continued sending the rollium bars into the Octarians, the Bomber's aerial mobility only making it a sitting target for the blonde to nail. _"Get cooked, Octoslobs."_

Perking up, Daisy was still using the rolliums to break the crates from afar, despite it being safe to do so up close with her Heroroller. "Hey, that's what Off the Hook says~"

_"How do you know who they are and not know the Squid Sisters?!"_

"Who?"

=====

_Sunken Scroll 5: This looks like a get-rich-quick scheme by some shady guy with crazy hair. "I made a cool 10 million G in a year just by sitting around! Ask me how!" Do people really fall for this bilge?_

"Ten million~?! Ooh boy~!"

Ooh boy indeed...

=====  
**The Octopark: Stay on Your Grind**

Daisy twirled the dualies around her fingers like she'd seen competitors in Turf War do before... only she was nowhere as nimble, one of her guns clattering to the ground, the second one doing the same as she bent over to pick up the first.

_"Agent 4, you can dodge roll up to two times in a row while shooting."_ Marie once again spoke up, pretty sure the girl needed all the help she could get. Rose had told her Daisy preferred using sloshers, but she had no idea of the girl's other weapon experiences before the NSS. _"I'm pretty sure you can roll in any direction, though do be aware of your surroundings when doing so."_

Nodding despite Marie unable to see her do so, she looked down at the guns in her hand. Having two weapons at a time felt like cheating, but she wasn't about to complain. "Let's see~" Firing at nothing in particular, Daisy started testing out her rolling technique, giggling as she practiced. Left right~ Right left~ Front back~ Back back--

"OH COD GROUND!"

And backwards right off the platform, like a true dualies main.

_"As I was saying, do be aware of your surroundings when doing so..."_

Marie ignored Daisy's whines as she respawned, glaring down at the cursed weapons in her hands. "It's cooler when it's other people falling off the stage..."

=====

"Weeeeeee~!"

Come on, you guys should all know by now that Daisy was going to enjoy the ride rails, shooting, jumping, and switching between them at an eager pace. She was actually just skipping past Octarians at this point just so she could get to the next rail, the only thing more exciting for her was the growing stack of calamari rings she had in her jacket pocket.

_"Looks like fun. Sometimes I wish I were the one risking my life out there..."_ Marie hummed, which caused Daisy to giggle.

"C'mon, Granny~ We don't want you breaking a hip now~"

_"That's it, I'm going to confiscate your calamari rings at this rate!"_

"Waah! Wh-what did I do?!"

=====  
**Back-Alley Cleanup: Suck it Up...**  
(A very lewd name for a fic, I bet)

_"WHUUUU?! That's the biggest Squee-G I've ever seen!"_

Not paying attention to the other squid's surprise at the Squee-Gs before her, Daisy watched in awe as the gargantuan machine ate up the Octarians on the ground, leaving a sparkling clean path in its wake. It was much more efficient than the smaller models! "... Hey gran--"

_"If you want it, go right ahead~"_ Surprising Daisy, Marie actually gave her permission before she could ask, delighting the airhead. _"Just head on down there and grab it~"_

Daisy squealed in joy as she got permission, jumping down and running towards the bot. "Hey, little guy~ Wanna come home with m--"

As she got close, the Squee-G suddenly dinged as it sensed an ink stain in need of scrubbing: Agent 4.

"Hey. Wai-wai-wait a sec! No hug! NO HUGS! GET BACK! OH COD!!!" Despite her cries, Sheldon and Marie simply watched the live feed, unable to help the poor girl.

_"...Agent Two, doesn't this seem a bit cruel?"_

__

__

_"She's got to learn one of these days, Sheldon. Just consider this a case of tough love~"_

**=====**

_"Don't go falling to your doom now. I'm pretty invested in you at this point."_

Daisy scoffed as she jumped to a new platform, keeping an eye out for any enemies nearby. "Oh Granny~ When would I ever--"

_"Think **very** carefully about how you finish that sentence, Agent 4."_

"N-noted..."

**=====**

_"OH COD LEAVE ME ALONE!"_

Marie chuckled and leaned back in her seat back at the safety of the cabin, snacking on her confiscated calamari rings and watching Agent 4's progress through the small television. Currently, Daisy was running for her life from an industrial sized Squee-G that was behind a locked door, and it was hungry for ink. Honestly, this was better entertainment than tv~

A trio of knocks on the door to the cabin came, outside was Rose, just on her own this time. She opened the door and came in to see Marie chowing down on some calamari rings. "Hey heeyy! Just wanted to check in on out new recrui-..." She paused to look at the screens, to say that Daisy seemed to be 'struggling' against the jumbo Squee-Gs would be a tad of an understatement. "That bad, huh? How much has that repsawn pad got left in it?"

"Oh, hey Three. It's got a few rounds left in it. She dies a few times, but if she's lucky, never more than once per pad," Marie fills Rose in before offering her the plate of rings, the pink girl taking one for herself. It reminded her of the snacks she used to find back when she was clearing kettles. The idol meanwhile watches as Daisy rides the ride rail down, jumping for the top of the Squee-G... and whiffing her landing before running from the mechanical beast once again. It brought a smile to Marie's lips. "She can kill Octarians fine, it's just the bigger things she has issues with."

"That's my girlfriend, alright. A force to be reckoned with, just not the best problem solver." Rose chuckled and shook her head, reminding herself of her visit before her adorable girlfriend distracted her. "Not sure if Cap'n told you yet, but he's taking me on some expedition up on Mount Nantai. Apparently there's some weird shit going on over there?"

Marie nodded and took another ring, looking between the two agents. "Thanks for letting me know. I should have things covered up here, but I wish Gramps would just take it easy already."

"Maybe we can tell him to retire once Octavio's back in his globe?"

"We can only be so hopeful to make it that far."

"Give Daisy a lil' more credit than that. She's made it this far, hasn't she?" Looking down at her phone, she gave a two fingered salute before making her way to the drain back to Inkopolis. "I gotta head home and pack, we're supposed to leave in the morning. Give Daisy a kiss for me, would ya~?"

"You wish, Agent 3~" Marie called back, turning her eyes to the screen. Oh good, she was still alive.

More good news, Daisy did eventually land on top of the giant Squee-G, as she now rode it as she guided its path with a trail of ink. _"Go forth, my pet! I shall feed you the world~! HAHAHAHA~!"_

=====

Back in Suction-Cup Lookout, a group of birds were sitting around in a green puddle of ink, pecking at the ground and doing some basic bird stuff. Not a soul could be seen in sight, the only signs of recent activity being the variety of green splotches left here and there by an excitable Agent 4 during her exploring earlier that day. Only the birds can be spotted as the only life in the entirety of the area.

Suddenly, one takes off in flight, as if spooked by movement, soon to be followed by two more. The three remaining birds continue their business until they sense movement like their predecessors, taking off to the skies.

Daisy then pops out of the ink several feet away, having been sneaking up on the birds-- or trying to-- incredibly slowly for the better part of ten minutes. "How?!"

=====  
**The Showdown: Fear the Octo Samurai**

Daisy looked around the arena with a groan, Sheldon insisting on her carrying the heavy roller during her exploration of the boss kettle. As one would expect, it didn't take long for yet another zapfiah to get pulled under the magenta ink, a massive figure emerging to face her (not as big as the Octo Oven, thankfully for Daisy's neck from having to look up).

The Octo Samurai, her opponent, swung his roller down with a roar, his way of challenging the Agent.

"...Friend or fo--"

_"Oh for Cod sake, we've been over this! Foe!"_ Marie's sigh could probably be heard across the kettle as she readjusted herself, picking up another of Daisy's squid rings. _"Now smoke this clown, Agent 4. For the honor of your family... or something."_

Daisy nodded and slammed her own roller against the ground, charging at her opponent... and sorta bounced off of him a few times as she tried running him over. "Huh... That usually works when the roller mains do this in Turf-- BWEH!"

Of course, the Samurai wasn't just gonna stand there and let this lost child toy with him like that, so he brought his weapon down on her head, turning Daisy into little more than an ink puddle.

_"You okay, Agent 4?"_ Marie asked when she respawned, the agent leaning on her roller.

"I th-think I got the s-sense beat outta me..."

_"I assume not for the first time..."_

=====

The Octo Samurai hopped up on his unicycle, the motor of his roller revving as his ride got tricked out. _"That's... the latest in Octarian weapon technology! The Octocycle!"_ Sheldon cried out as he drove right for Daisy.

Marie sighed and shook her head, watching Agent 4 barely jumping out of the way in time. _"Okay, that's just ridic--"_

"I want one~!" Daisy interrupted, excited at the idea of a new plaything.

Marie inhaled, a thought immediately coming to her mind. _"Do you even have a license?"_

"...No..."

_"Then no."_

=====

_"Look out, it looks like he's charging something!"_ Sheldon warned, the three of them watching the Samurai's roller spinning rapidly in his hands.

Daisy chuckled, already on stage three of the fight, and all the way on the other side of the arena. Airheaded or not, she knew the range on rollers wasn't that great. "So I'll just wait over here~ Once he's blown his attack, I can--"

A jetstream of ink flew at Daisy, the blond inkling having little time to react outside her panicked squealing as she was blown off the side of the arena.

The hiss of the spawn pad signaled her return to the land of the living, once again leaning on her roller for support. "...Die. I can die..."

=====

Daisy was panting as she watched the Samurai spawnpad explode in a blast of green ink, leaving the little zapfish behind. _"Good work Agent 4. Let's pick up the zapfish and get going."_ Giving a shaky thumbs up to Marie over the headset, Daisy walked over and lifted the roller to waist height... before dropping it, missing the zapfish orb by a mile.

"M-my arms... feel like lead..." she whined, unable to lift the heavy weapon any higher.

_"...Take a minute, Agent 4."_

=====

"Whew, that was kind of intense. Great work, Agent 4."

_"Tee-hee~ Thanks Granny~!"_

"Maybe it's just me, but the Octarian bases feel like they've been given a feminine touch."

_"Mm-hm! Indeed~!"_

Marie hummed and shook her head, looking around while she waited for Agent 4 to return with the last of the zapfish. "...Yeah, I figured you wouldn't know what I was talking about." Just then, a harsh static came through the radio transmission, both sides hearing the faintest of words through the static haze. "Huh? Is this thing on the fritz? I just changed the batteries in this thing!"

_"Aaaactually,"_ Sheldon's voice came up to clarify. _"There is likely radio interference--"_

_"Sorry Sheldon, wrong number,"_ Daisy interrupted before a click could be heard.

Immediately silencing the horseshoe crab, Marie couldn't hear anything from the other end of the radio, much to her surprise. "Huh. How long have you known you could do that, Agent 4?" A moment passed without a response, causing the idol to look over the device curiously. "Agent 4?" Maybe it did need new batteries?

_"I believe Agent 4 turned off her headset, Agent 2!"_ Sheldon's voice came back up, to Marie's dismay. The traitorous bitch left her on her own! _"As I was saying, All the junk in the canyon must be projecting an electromagnetic field that affects radio waves! That might be--"_

Marie let out a long suffering groan. Well, Daisy just lost her chance at getting these calamari rings back!

_=====_

Daisy whined as she returned to her girlfriends' home, literally kicking off her shoes and flopping down on the couch with her arms hanging limply at her sides. How Roller mains managed to function after flinging ink over and over and over again was beyond her understanding... Her arms still felt like they were covered in cement, far too heavy for her to lift.

Unable to get up to go cuddle with her girlfriends or eat the dinner they left out for her, Daisy simply closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, her body too exhausted to put up any resistance...


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day three of saving the world... But Daisy's not there. Marie decides to make a few calls.

Marie sighed as she listened to her cellphone. It was the next day, and she was trying to call Agent 4. She wasn't this late to work yesterday, so she was a tad concerned for the airhead she had hired. It's not like the previous day was easy on her, after all. Honestly, she was just thankful she had the foresight to get her cell number before now... though with how long the gray haired inkling was waiting for the other end to pick up, Marie wondered whether the airhead had actually given her the right number.

=====

Daisy snoozed contently from her spot on the couch, still belly down as she had been when she returned home the prior day. Despite nearly being noon, the yellow inkling was blissfully ignorant of her ringing cellphone in her back pocket, letting it buzz in her back pocket as she drooled on a throw pillow under her head. "Rosyyyyy... Muh butt's vibratin'..." She let out a sleepy whine, her phone not nearly enough to wake up the sleepy squid.

She's not actually sure if any of her girlfriends are even home, they're all probably at their own respective jobs since it's nearly noon. Lazy bum.

=====

Marie sighed and hung up. If Agent 4 wasn't going to pick up, she knew someone else who might. Picking Agent 3 from her contacts list, she waited and let the phone ring, hoping she could get some info from her new agent's more reliable girlfriend...

...

Elsewhere in Octo Valley, Agent 3 let out a sigh as she took a seat near a rocky outcropping, Cap'n Cuttlefish having dragged her out for a new mission. It would probably turn out to be just some boring reconnaissance mission, but she wanted to use the trip as an excuse to keep the old man distracted. Didn't need him finding out about the Octarians going wild again. 

The phone in her bag rang out with its shrill tones, making her jump slightly before digging around for the device. Marie's face was on the caller ID labelled 'old lady lmao' as a result of Agent 4's unique name calling. Letting out a small chuckle, Rose picked up the phone and pressed the 'answer' button. "Well well well, look who Judd dragged in. What do ya need?"

_"Your girlfriend..."_ Marie replied before thinking over her response. _"Don't take that the wrong way. I've been trying to call her all morning, what's up?"_

"I dunno, I'm not home. She was asleep when I left, but that was a few hours ago. You need her for more Octarian business?" She was nearly late meeting up with the Cap'n because of that in fact, watching Daisy being so adorable even in her sleep.

_"Yes. I tried calling her, but she never picked up. Did she have plans today?"_

Rose hummed in thought before shaking her head, quickly reminding herself Marie couldn't see her. "Uh, nope. Not unless Lilly brought her to help her with work, but she should still have her phone. Maybe she's still asleep? She looked pretty tired when she came home."

_"It's almost after noon!"_

"Your point?" Rose listened to Marie sighing over the phone before glancing over to the Cap'n, the old squid waving her over. Seems break time was over. "Listen, I'm out with Cap'n now in the Valley, so I won't be in cell range for a bit. Think you can handle Daisy until I get back?"

_"Depends on my patience..."_

"Try to hold off on booze for a lil' bit, okay? Don't wanna find you more alcohol than ink when we get back. Later!" Hanging up and tucking her phone back in her bag, Rose got up and adjusted her cape, climbing down an incline to rejoin her commanding officer.

=====

Marie sighed and tried calling Daisy once more. Not even she could sleep in this late...

...

Daisy hummed some pointless song as she poured herself a bowl of cereal. Normally pancakes were the way to go for breakfast, but her arms were still sore from yesterday, so she opted for a meal with less preparation and effort. She nearly dropped the box of sugary breakfast junk as a squeak escaped her throat, a sudden buzzing came from her butt surprising her. She was pretty certain Rose hadn't done anything to her in her sleep! Though she had been rather vulnerable on the couch...

No, wait, just her phone. Taking it out of her back pocket, she swiped it open and held it to her ear. "Hello~?"

_"Agent 4, finally!"_

"Ah, Granny~ Good morning~!"

_"It's noon, but whatever,"_ Marie withheld a sigh, partially annoyed but at least relieved she finally got a hold of her agent. _"Tell me, did you even plan on showing up today?"_ she asked, her voice brimming with sarcasm from her rhetorical question.

"Oh, no thanks! I'm good."

_"...Sorry, what?"_

"I SAID I'M GOOD, BUT THANKS FOR ASKING!"

Marie held the phone away from her ear until she was sure the girl was done yelling. _"I can hear you just fine! What do you mean 'you're good'?! We have a whole new zone to search and clear!"_

"Yeaaaah, but I'm not feeling it today." Daisy hummed as she took a spoonful of her cereal. How can something so unhealthy taste so good? Or maybe the real question was how could something so good be so unhealthy? It was something she was going to ponder today. "I explored a lot yesterday, and things get bland if you do the same thing over and over. I was gonna mix it up today, spend some time with my girlfriend Lilly, maybe turf with her if I can drag her away from work for a bit~"

_"Wha-- B-but! The canyon!"_

"Relaaaaax, it'll be there tomorrow. I'll, like, help you find your cats tomorrow or something~"

_"But--"_

"Gotta go, my cereal is gettin' soggy! Talk to you later, Granny~!" With a smile, she hung up the phone and set the device down so she could focus on starting her day with ungodly amounts of sugar!

=====

"But--!" The click on the other end told Marie the Agent had hung up, leaving her in a state of disbelief. "Agent 4? Agent 4?!"

Of course, no one answered, leaving the Squid Sister to scream in frustration out at the canyon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, only because I want to keep the pacing as 'one day per chapter' or so. Next one will be longer as Daisy actually shows up to her job! Though how long will Marie's kidneys last at this rate?


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daisy returns to take on Beaker's Depot, where the ultimate weapon against the Octarians awaits her! Will she be able to conquer the challenges before her, or will Marie's kidneys give up before she beats the boss?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since the last chapter was short, here's a longer one to compensate! (I actually have no general idea of how long a chapter will be until I post it, honestly.) It probably doesn't help that I come up with new ideas to help run the pad time.

Marie yawned as she came up from the sewer grate into Octo Canyon. It was the next day, and she was hoping to make up for lost time from yesterday. The wet 'splish splash' of her sandles walking through an ink puddle at least told her the yellow inkling must've shown up today, thank goodness.

Only, when she opened her eyes from her yawn, she could see it wasn't all that good after all. No, instead she could feel her hearts stop at the sight before her, pure shock freezing her body in place.

Yellow. 

It was all yellow.

The cabin, the shooting area, the trees-- _the fucking trees!_ Marie held her breath in dreadful anticipation as she walked past the rock overhang to answer her suspicions. Sure enough, she was right-- Every inkable surface in Tentakeel Outpost was covered in yellow ink. Not even the smallest corner was left untouched, from the walls to the kettles.

And in the center of this mess was none other than the culprit herself.

"Mornin' Granny~!" Daisy smiled and waved her Heroshot to the idol, splotches of her own ink on her outfit.

It took her a moment, but Marie was eventually able to shake off enough of her shock to ask a single question. "...Why."

Daisy grinned and looked around at her handiwork. "I napped a lot yesterday so, like, I ended up waking up early today and, like, I came here to see you you but you were, like, not here, and I got super booooored~"

Marie feared to ask, yet she couldn't help her curiosity. "Have you... done _this_ to the other areas too...?"

"Nah~ I just got finished as you got here~!"

Oh thank Cod. "Well, I'm here." And she made the smart decision of buying more booze yesterday, because she felt like she was going to need it today. "Let's just... start you off in Beaker's Depot today, kay?" Daisy stared at her, silence lingering between the two of them before Marie understood. "...Area Three."

"Aww, but I wanna ink up the next area first--"

Oh, she wasn't going to have any of that! "I hear Sheldon got a surprise for you over there~"

With a gasp, Daisy was off, already super jumping to the next area with gusto. Marie let out yet another sigh as she made her way to the cabin, already too tired for the girl's antics...

=====  
 **Dancing Floors: Ink Switcheroo**

After doing some fancy acrobatics across some scaffolding, Daisy jumped into the first kettle she could find. It only took her twenty minutes~ 

The familiar sound of Sheldon's drone hit her ears, the young agent squirming excitedly to see the gift the shoe crab had gotten her. Timing her jump, she leapt up, opened the case it had, and-- "GHHK!" 

Fell on her back, a rather heavy splattling landing on her chest and leaving her winded as Sheldon's voice came in through her headset. _"The Hero Splatling can turn you into a one squid army! Be careful when charging though."_

Daisy let out a choked whine, doing her best to push the heavy weapon off of her. "G-granny... Is this my gift?"

_"I... Don't think that's the one, Agent 4. He probably put it in another kettle... Are you alright?"_

"I think it's crushing my lungs..."

=====

Skillfully avoiding a set of autobombs welcoming her at the gate (or just throwing her own autobombs at them to save herself), Daisy encountered her first Octarian of the stage. It was just a simple Octotrooper, but now it had to deal with the outrageous firepower at her fingertips~!

Eagerly taking aim, she held down the trigger and watched the barrel of the Splatling spin. And spin. And spin...

Eventually Sheldon decided to step in before Marie decided to start day-drinking. _"...Agent 4, you do know you're supposed to let go of the trigger to fire, right?"_

"You gave me another charger?!"

Cue the exhausted sighs from both her supports. At least the Octotrooper was kind enough to hold its fire while they sorted this mess out.

=====

Thankfully, it didn't take long for Daisy to figure out how the mechanics of the stage (and her own weapon) worked. Shoot the drums, platform moves. It wasn't too hard.

At least, until near the end. Three platforms moved when she shot the target: the wall in front of her, the wall slightly above it, and one off to the side above the abyss. Bottom wall moved towards her, top one moved back. Once she was on the top wall, she just had to figure out how to jump to the other without falling what appeared to be a city below...

"Granny, who lives down there?"

 _"Probably the Octarians you keep fighting,"_ Marie replied without much thought, not really seeing how it was important to their mission.

The blonde on the other end, in contrast, was thinking about all the little tentacle dudes she kept splatting. She could imagine the one she just splatted having to get back to his car after the nine-to-five was done and drive home, coming home to his wife and kids after a long day of inking the ground and getting in the way of the excitable blonde. Oh, his step-parents are coming to stay with them for the holidays? Great... Just what he needed, a week of awkward family conversations with the in-laws... 

Oh, she was at the top platform now. She must have been managing the level while she was daydreaming. Now all she had to do was jump across so she could get up to the next part of the stage~ With a thoughtful hum, Daisy shot the drum-- and the platform she was on disappeared, putting her back on the bottom one. Panicking, she shot the side of the third one as it retracted, not noticing until it was too late that the second was pushing her off the edge.

"OH COD--" _Poof._ Her Splatling couldn't charge in time to give her an escape route, and she was sent back to the spawnpoint.

Marie and Sheldon were meanwhile watching the little agent fall off the stage after staring off into space for a few minutes. _"...Maybe we should give her the Hero Shot--"_

_"I need that data, Agent 2. The test subject is expendable; data is forever."_

_"...I'm not going to lie, Sheldon. You scare the shit out of me sometimes..."_

=====

"You gotta be squidin' me..." Two very scary flooders stood in her path on some very thin platforms, very little room to maneuver before the inkling-seeking machines of death either spotted her or ran her over by accident.

 _"You got this, Agent 4,"_ Marie encouraged, surprisingly doing little to help. _"The zapfish is right over there. You're almost home free!"_

Taking a slow breath, she waited for the first flooder to turn away, hopping onto the walkway and shooting herself a path-- NOPE IT SAW HER! RUN! And run she did, skipping over to the second platform where the first flooder couldn't reach her. So what if she couldn't pick up the armor or eggs that were off to the side, she had still outsmarted the machine! "Ha-ha~ Take that! Not gonna get me this time-- BWEH!?"

Second flooder, Daisy. Its downpour of ink decimated her Hero Suit, but she managed to push past onto a ramp, thankfully out of harm's way despite ending up stark naked.

_"Nice footwork, Agent 4..."_

"Thanks..." Daisy whined as she made her way up the second platform, shooting down the boxes in her way... and revealed herself to a blushing Octotrooper. A moment of silence passed as the two processed the other's presence before the exhibitionist opened fire upon the on-looker. "P-PERVERT! PERVERT!"

She was shooting the poor thing into oblivion, even after her Hero Suit reformed. At least the Octarian had a happy moment before its death...

=====

Back in Beaker's Depot, Agent 4 hummed as she looked at a grate-sorta wall across a gap. A kettle might be over there, but she wouldn't be able to jump over it the fence-like barrier...

Oh duh! Squids are made of ink~ Shooting the ground to get a run-up, Daisy morphed, swam, and leapt through the wall. "Woomy-- OH COD GROUND!"

And right through a similar grate that served as the floor, plummeting into the abyss before she could change back into her more solid form. Look before you leap, Daisy.

=====  
 **The Floating Garden: Chasing Heartache**

_"Tentakook! After it!"_

Daisy did as she was told, shooting and swimming through her ink to chase after the swift Octarian. But even after dodging the bombs it tossed, she couldn't catch up with it... at least until it found itself at a dead end, rushing back and forth since the inkling blocked its only escape.

"Teehee~ It's so dumb~" Despite her teasing, she didn't shoot, seeming content to let it run around in the small containment. She was just standing there watching it, and Marie wasn't sure if this was just Agent 4 being an airhead, or psychologically torturing the poor thing by not killing it...

=====

The Tentakook ran as the Predator chased after him, fearing for his life. Rumors had spread among the Octarians of this being; where Agent 3 had cleared their ranks quickly and efficiently, this... this _thing_ took its time with their kind, the cruelty of its actions reminiscent of a monster.

Agent 3 killed them. But this one murdered them... And so they had named this disturbing, blood-thirsty beast 'the Predator'.

He stopped behind a crate, feeling safe for the moment, thinking that perhaps the Predator wouldn't find him... and yet the screams of his brethren could be heard as it approached, leaving none in its wake. He had hoped tossing the bombs behind him as he ran would have confused its sense of smell, perhaps bought the Tentakook a few more precious minutes of life.

Movement! From the right! Prepared to drop a bomb, perhaps to at least injure the beast to save his kin, the Octarian turned to run left... only to stop as mechanical sounds could be heard approaching from that direction. It had surrounded him.

In his final moments, he looked upon the face of the Predator, a face of fear and death, and dropped the bomb at his feet. It was already too late for him, but not for the others, dammit! [May my brothers succeed where I have failed...}

...

"BWEH!"

_"Agent 4, are you alright?"_

Daisy grr'd as she sunk into her ink, waiting for her suit to respawn while her autobomb went off, the little Octarian already splatted. "I'm okay. Darn thing dropped a bomb just as I got close though..."

_"You should be a bit more careful in the future. Tentakooks aren't much of a threat, but be mindful of enemies nearby that might follow up with an attack."_

"Kaykaaaay~"

=====

They had it outnumbered. Several of their fastest Tentakook troopers, the last line of defense for the zapfish. They were the only thing standing between the pilfered power source... and the Predator. 

Among them were two keys, the only thing that could open the vault, seeming the only thing that could stop the creature that sought out the blood of their kind. With this many soldiers against the beast, they couldn't fail. Not all of them would survive, but not all of them would fall. They were many, but the Predator was only one!

A noise from the frontlines... One of their own racing into the battlefield. He spotted it, and it was already on its way! In a matter of seconds, the chase had begun! They ran and ran, a multitude of bombs dropping in their wake, traps they could use to hopefully lead the monster astray! As one or two of their own lingered too long behind, a new noise echoed across the platform.

Pain. A pained cry. But not Octarian in origin! They had wounded it!

Yet it still gave chase, slower now, leading them up the hillside. One would say it was herding them over the ledge... But the drop was not far, easy enough for the brave Tentakooks to jump. Some even had the foresight to bring aerial support to make their landings softer! Back across the battlefield they ran, away from the Predator in pursuit. This was their plan; to have it chase them around and around, unable to tell who had the key, until it was too tired and weakened to continue its pursuit! It could not attack all of them at once!

...That was what they had hoped. A battlecry from the beast signaled an attack they simply were not ready for. It wrought down destruction, not from the ground, but from the air! Soldier after soldier fell as death rained down from above, not everyone able to escape the explosives that sought them out like missiles. The brave soldiers who were tasked with protecting the keys were slain, only one of the Tentakooks surviving the _massacre_ that had taken his comrades, his brethren... The Predator had spared him. To tell its tale or to live the rest of his life in fear, he did not know.

But never would he forget the slaughter that he had witnessed this day...

...

"Yoooo! Tenta Missiles are awesome~! I didn't even know they could target more than four people at once!"

 _"It certainly seemed to do the trick,"_ Marie agreed, watching the splaterfest going on below Agent 4. _"And you managed to find the ones with the keys. Good work, Agent... Though you might have missed one of them."_

Picking up both keys, Daisy unlocked the first vault and got one of the funky metal fishes she seemed to find everywhere. Sheldon's machine made her weapons beefier, so she didn't really mind picking them up. "Does it have anything good?"

_"Probably not."_

"...Eh. It's not important~" Giving the little Octarian a wave goodbye, Daisy hopped over to the second vault, sending her to the final platform with the Zapfish.

=====

Daisy took a few breaths as she aimed for the blue balloon floating around the Depot. She could do this, she's got this...

 _papap--_ **POP!** First balloon down! Turn, run, take out these two--

 _pappap_ **POP** _papap--_ **POP** And jump on the rail! Don't miss this one coming up-- _pappap--_ **POP!**

Alright, here was the tricky one... Jump from the rail onto the floaty rock! Now onto the other rail! It's drifting away-- _pappap--_ **POP**

Don't slow down! Three in a row! _pappap_ **POP** _papap_ **POP** _papap--_ **POP** Shoot up the cube now, shoot the balloon as it drifts by! Just don't shoot the-- _pappap_ **POP--** _dingdingdingding_ ...fan.

"NO!" Despite the fan-powered platform moving away from the final balloon, Daisy doesn't surrender so easy! She YEETS a bomb, watching it bounce off the tops of the crates, and...

**BANG--POP!**

A sticker floats uselessly down from the last balloon as it bursts, Agent 4 panting tiredly as she walks over to pick it up. "Wuh... Woomy..." She slumps down, brain and body exhausted. Maybe she shouldn't have tried so hard to get all the balloons her first run...

=====  
 **Octoling Assault: Pump Track It Up**

_"Great, more Octolings..."_ Marie sighed as she waited for Sheldon to run a scan on the area.

_"Be mindful of the poison mist bombs lying around the stage, Agent 4! They'll drain your ink if you get too close!"_

Daisy hummed as she thought over Sheldon's advice. So, fight the enemies, but don't get too close... A-hah! She had an idea!

...

Soldier 784 sighed in boredom as she looked around, idly rolling her... well, roller, back and forth against the ground. They were supposed to be on high alert since the proximity alarms went off, signalling Agent 4's entry into the kettle, but... it's been a good five minutes since then! Where was the stinkin' inkling?!

...Oh, that rhymed~ She had to keep that one in mind for later! 

Her musings were cut short by... a noise... She couldn't quite put her finger on what it was though. [Hey, 780! You hear that?]

780 was currently trying to bounce a splat bomb on the end of her roller to pass the time, the distraction causing her to drop it with a growl. [Hear what?]

[Just listen!] 784 got a sigh as a reply, but she did quiet her comrade for the moment. Nothing... then, footsteps! Tiny footsteps though.. Tiny and... metal?

784 felt her ink run cold at the sight, 780 already alerting the others in their platoon. [AUTOBOMBS!] It wasn't just a few though.

There was no better word for it than 'army'. Row upon row, ranks of autobombs marched across the curves of the stage-- in formation! They couldn't set off the toxic mist they had spent the last two days setting up while waiting for an inkling. 784 didn't know what to do! Members of her platoon were already falling as the mobilized explosives detonated them into puddles of crimson ink. Their rollers were useless, since they needed to be close to use them effectively. Too close. 784 simply dropped her weapon and accepted her fate. Agent 4 had outsmarted them all...

...

Daisy meanwhile sat by her own spawner, winding up an autobomb and kissing its head before placing it on the ground and watching it walk off to join the others on the battlefield. She then picked up another from a pile of unactivated bombs, doing the same as she sent her soldiers to war.

=====  
 **Octo-Resort Spring: Everybody Bounce**

Marie was already regretting this kettle...

"BOING~! BOING!~ BoingboingBOING~! GRANNY THIS IS SO FUN~!"

Bouncepads. Why did it have to be bouncepads...? Marie put down the bottle and let out a long suffering sigh. She should have known from the yellow Outpost that this would be a long day. _"Agent 4. Please... Remember Sheldon's gift?"_

Daisy squealed in delight at the reminder, doing a flip mid-bounce in excitement. "IS THIS IT?! OHMIGOSH I LOVE IT~!"

_"No. No. Nononononono... But you can get it after you finish this kettle. So please..."_

It was quiet over the communication line for a few seconds with the exception of the springy noise of the bouncepads. At least until Daisy started vocalizing her delight once more. "Boing~ Boing~ Boin--"

_"THERE ARE OTHER BOUNCEPADS IN THIS STAGE! WHY ARE YOU OBSESSED WITH THE FIRST ONE YOU FOUND?!"_

Sheldon gave a hum on his end, watching the blonde having fun and not doing her job. _"I should find one of these bounce pads for... research."_

_"Fuck off, Sheldon."_

=====

Thankfully she did eventually move on, bouncing along pads with sliding walls above them, able to jump over them with ease.

 _"Secret balloons..."_ Marie pointed out less than enthused as Daisy started to shoot the floaty orbs excitedly, bouncing as she fired! She was having a blast!

At least, until the wall came back and started pushing her into the water with a splash. "Oh COD SALTWATER! IT BURNS!"

...Marie was already starting to like this level suddenly~

=====

"...That's a long ways down." Indeed it was. Daisy had landed on a platform in a tower-like structure, the blonde guessing it was easily as tall as one of the Moray Towers.

 _"Take your time and use the other platforms and bouncepads to get down, Agent 4,"_ Marie instructed, though she figured the various squid rings on the way down would've been good enough incentive without her input. _"Though just falling to the bottom would be quicker..."_

Giving her headset a thumbs up, Daisy hopped down to a bouncepad underneath, grabbing the deep fried rings out of the air and stuffing her pockets before aiming for the next step. Her target spotted, she bounced up high and let herself fall down. 

"OH COD GROUND!" Until the next platform drifted away from her, making her miss by a few feet. That small distance seemed to be all the difference however as she sailed past all the others, no amount of flapping her arms able to get her back onto one of the bouncepads. Even worse, on top of missing rows of crispy rings, Daisy was losing hold on the ones she had already gathered, watching them fly away from her and land on platforms where she had failed. Remembering to shift into squidform before she hit the ground, her inky form broke her fall without hurting her too much, leaving her whining at the bottom next to the super jump launcher.

 _"Better luck next time, squidkid,"_ Marie offered, nibbling a ring she took from the agent a few days prior. A shame, she was looking forward to fresh ones to steal from her subordinate.

"Next time..." Daisy hummed as she looked between the way forward... and the edge of the tower, the water below reminding her of the spawnpad at the very top.

 _"Yeah, as in 'let's get a move on'? Wait, where are you-- WAIT, AGENT 4, DON'T!"_ It took a few minutes of coercing from both Marie and Sheldon, as well as a reminder of how much salt water burned, before they finally got Daisy to step away from the edge. Turns out, getting splat painfully in water wasn't quite worth the crispy treats that taunted the blonde from above.

=====  
 **Octoseeker Shakedown: A Midnight Stroll**

_"Alright, Agent 4. Are you ready for that present~?"_

Daisy was all too excited, having waited the entire day for this moment! "Yes! YES~! YesyesyesyesyesyesYES~!"

Marie chuckled, she could be adorable at times. _"Alright, take care~"_

Taking off her headset as Sheldon flew his drone in, Marie let Sheldon handle the delivery of the blonde's gift. _"Agent 4, this is the Hero Slosh--"_

" **AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH~♡** Marie couldn't hide her smirk as she watched on, though maybe she should've warned Sheldon to take off his headset like she did. Daisy was jumping around the starting platform, clutching the newest weapon to her generous chest like it was early Squidmas. "HERO BUCKET~!

Sheldon cleared his throat, still not all that together from the banshee wail he got directly into his eardrum. _"A-actually! It's called the Hero Slosher, it--"_

"Bucket~" Daisy interrupted, not at all sorry for doing so.

_"...Ummn, n-no, I know it looks like a bucket, but it's--"_

"See? You just said so yourself! Bucket~!"

_"...I don't think you understand--"_

"What's hard to understand? It's a bucket!" Daisy huffed as she shook her head. "Geez, Sheldon, I thought you were supposed to be smart about weapons~!"

Sheldon, in a rare moment, was stunned silent. Marie was there to fill the silence though with her amused chuckling, taking a slow sip of the nearest bottle to savor the moment. _"Well, you know what's best~ Go show 'em what you're made of, bucket main~"_

"Weeee~" Like a kid ready to show off her new toy to her friends, Daisy was off, bucket in hand.

=====

"I'm back, Agent 2..."

"What happened?"

"I think Agent 4's logic made me blackout... what did I miss?"

"Take a look for yourself~"

"...Is she... Riding an Octoseeker?"

"Yes she is." 

"...Is she squidbagging _on top_ of an Octoseeker???"

"Yes she is~"

"...Pass me the bottle..."

=====

Marie and Sheldon were actually quite shocked from watching Agent 4's progress. Many times she appeared to simply stumble and shoot about, her airheaded nature giving her the two of them a number of grievences.

This was not the case for Daisy Hart, finally in her element as she broke through the ranks of the level. Despite a number of armor cases lying around the stage, she simply ignored each one. She didn't need them. Not once in the entire course did Daisy even take a single hit from the enemy, not one drop of majenta ink hitting the blonde bucket brute. She didn't stumble, didn't hesitate, she even made time to sit in front of a downed Octoseeker and squidbag the twintacle trooper piloting the machine!

As she grabbed the Zapfish, Sheldon looked at the stopwatch in his hand before showing Marie beside him. "Just over three minutes. That's the shortest amount of times she's spent in any of these stages by quite a margin!"

 _"I can go faster!"_ Daisy declared over the headset, apparently eager to continue showing off and use her new favorite weapon more.

"Agent 4, I don't think we have time--"

"It's fine, Sheldon," Marie interrupted, leaning back in her seat. She needed to see this for herself. "If she can go faster, then it shouldn't be too much of a waste."

 _"Yay~!"_ Daisy cheered before putting the zapfish right back into the electric dome and superjumping back to the start.

Marie chuckled, pouring herself a glass now that she had to share with Sheldon. "...Why don't we let her use this for the rest of the kettles? We could steam right to the end by tomorrow, depending on how many more zones the Octarians have left for us."

"Because I need more data on all my weapons!"

"What about Callie? And the Great Zapfish?"

"...What about them?"

Marie kicked Sheldon out of the Cabin after that. Daisy also clocked in her record time of two minutes and forty six seconds on that stage, though she claims she could probably do better later.

=====  
 **Parking Garage: Drive to the Finish**

_"Remind me to never get my car washed here..."_

Sheldon's comment was brought about by the ink columns currently coating a car in magenta ink, though Marie dared to wonder if she should ask the obvious question. Sheldon had a car? Shame she was currently not on speaking terms with the horse shoe crab, so her curiosity would have to be sated another day.

As much as she welcomed a distraction from him, Daisy cutting in wasn't the interruption she was looking for. "Granny! Can I keep one of these~?" She was of course referring to the car getting an extreme paint job. How did the Octarians even get cars all the way in here?!

Marie inhaled, a sense of deja vu immediately coming to her mind. _"Do you even have a license?"_

"...Yes~!"

_"Are you lying?"_

"...Yes..."

_"Then no."_

Daisy whined, still pouting from having to give up her bucket for a charger again as she fired a shot across the car and hopping on... just as the rinse cycle began apparently, the ink rollers colliding on the poor inkling before spitting her out on the other side. Thankfully, a set of armor she picked up got shredded in stead of her clothing this time.

_"Are you okay, Agent 4?"_

"...I think this car wash is broken. I don't feel cleaner..."

_"...Sometimes I worry about you."_

=====

_"There's an Octosniper guarding the vault."_

Daisy could see it, of course, and did her best to shoot at the far-off enemy. Though despite her best attempts, none of her shots could reach it, even as it took aim at her. _"It has a much longer range than you do, so best move around carefully to a more ideal spot,"_ Sheldon pointed out, barely getting his message past the scared squeak Daisy made as she dove for cover.

"What's the point in me using this stinkin' thing if it doesn't even have good range?!"

_"What, and the slosher does?"_

Daisy peeked out from around the corner, thankful that the sniper's back was turned to her now. "...It could. My Blobloblob might."

 _"...Don't even pretend, Agent 4."_ Whining at Sheldon's comment, Daisy started making her way around the stage, doing her best to keep out of the Octosniper's sight while taking out enemies she came across. As it turned out, stealth was not exactly the bubbly blonde's forte as she constantly had to wait behind cover after she was spotted at almost every turn.

It took a while and some significant patience from Sheldon, but Daisy finally let out a booyah as she took out the Octarian, grabbing the key and hopping down to the vault. "Granny, I did it!"

Marie nearly spit out her drink in surprise as she was spoken to, having not paid attention for the last few minutes. Honestly, she was more annoyed that she was starting to identify by the annoying name her agent had bestowed upon her... _"Uh, yeah. Good job on that thing you just did."_

=====

"How is there more of this place...?" After a painfully long battle of stealth, Daisy had hoped the end was in sight. Only now there was quite possibly the worst parking garage any of them had ever seen before her. Switches hidden here and there, walls that were actually floors that were actually walls, cars parked as obstacles but only made Marie wonder again how they even got automobiles into the kettles...

Soon the Agent had reached the top, panting from the tedious climb mixed with using a weapon she wasn't any good at. Yet it still wasn't over, despite the zapfish being just in sight; two Octolings jumped over to where the agent stood, one weilding an octoshot while the other held some kind of slosher. Daisy looked between the two enemies, each taking aim at the poor inkling... And held out her Hero Charger to them. "I like your bucket~ Wanna trade?"

_"Agent 4, you are not giving away my baby!"_

_"...Sheldon, just go home already."_

=====

Daisy huffed as she exited the kettle. She couldn't shoot a single row of balloons at once... How was Rose so hot with a sniper?!

_"Excellent job, Agent 4! The boss kettle should be open now."_

The poor blonde let out a groan at the idea of having to use the charger for a second level in a row, wishing she could just stick with her main weapon through these puzzles and courses. "Uuggggh. He always makes me use his dumb weapons with those places though..."

 _"Well, there's always a chance he'll lend you the bucket."_ The silence on the other end told Marie that was all the incentive Daisy needed. _"Now, head to the Boss Kettle, I've marked it on your map."_

Daisy confirmed the location and looked over. The final kettle...

"...How the heck am I supposed to get over there...?"

=====  
 **Lips for Days: The Octostomp Returns**

_"I could reeeeeally use more data on these weapons~!"_

Daisy huffed as she looked over the Hero Dualies she was forced to use. They weren't the bucket, as she predicted. "Granny, you liar..." Firing herself into the arena, she watched the same old song and dance: purple goop, a tentacle eats one of Granny's cats, and a big thing comes out. Honestly, she's been through this twice.

"...Friend or foe?" And yet she doesn't always learn, staring down the Octo Stomp on the other side of the arena. It... started shimmying on its tiny legs, Daisy taking this as a sign of adorableness as she squidbagged in return. Friend~

Without warning (...besides the shimmying), it charged across the stage at her, decimating her armor and flinging her off the side of the arena. "OH COD GROUND-- Oh! Ground~" She was quite surprised to find this stage had two layers, so at least there wasn't as much of a chance of her falling off this time!

Marie meanwhile had taken off her headset, and was trying to call Agent 3 when her phone went to voicemail. "Heeeey, Three. It's Two, just leaving an update on your voicemail. So, remember that Octo Weapon you killed with Gramps? Octostomp, square looking, crushes you with its face? ...Yeah, your girlfriend is currently fighting it, so maybe kill the weapons of mass destruction the first time around, 'kay? Anyway, unless you want your girlfriend octo-stomped, you might wanna come over and help. Talk to you later."

=====

"Woomyyyy~!" Daisy nailed a sick landing on the other side of the arena after splatting the big tentacle once more, keeping her ink in check! Two down, one phase left to go~ 

...Well, at least that's how the previous fights have gone. Meanwhile...

"Hey, 3, it's Marie again. False alarm, Agent 4 has already whooped this guy twice, I think she can handle things on her own. Say hi to gramps for me if you see him, I got ingredients for seaweed stew for when you guys get back."

Back in the arena, Daisy held out her arms invitingly, twirling one of her dualies on her finger. She's finally got the hang of these weapons, and wasn't afraid to show off! "That all you got~?"

The Octostomp responded by doing the unthinkable-- its protective jacket slid over its body again, and with a puff, two more faces grew out of its sides!

Daisy stared at the feat, having not expected an actual response to her taunting. She lowered her head and kicked at the ground, not looking forward to what was coming next. "...I'm sorry..."

"GAAAAUGH! This thing just grew two more faces! Uhhhh... Okay, maybe come back, Agent 3, your gee eff is about to get arrh eye peed-- Oh gosh! It landed on her and broke her armor! She needs to recover... Why the shell is she naked?! Talk to you later, Three, kinda in a crisis at the moment! ...Nice jugs tho--" _click_

=====

"Agent Four, I jus'-- jus'wanna tell you how amazing of a job you're doing so far~" 

Daisy blinked at the gray haired inkling, offering her the zapfish she just rescued. Marie was sloshed. Bucketed, if you use Daisy's words. Seeing her agent stark naked in the middle of a boss fight might have pushed her over the edge of tipsy for today. "...Granny? Are you okay?"

"I'm ffffine, I'm fine I'm fine I'm fine~" She wasn't fine, she was hammered. "But, but! I think it's time for me to told-- to tell you about my other purpose in asking for your help... When we met-- oh gosh, it feels like so long ago~! Wh-when we met, I told you I was searching for the zapfish."

"You mean saving your cats?"

"No, sweetie, not my cats. But that's not the point. The point is! That wasn't-- that's not the whole story." Marie, already shaky enough on her own two feet, tried taking a seat on the Cuttlefish Cabin porch, Daisy helping by easing her down. "Thank you. Y'see, even more than the Great Zapfish, I wanted to find Callie."

"Is Callie also your cat?"

"No. No. I don't own any cats. The Judds are more like roommates... or freeloaders. Anyway! Anyway..." Gosh, all this talking was making her throat dry. Marie took a sip from the bottle she's been carrying all afternoon before continuing. At some point she stopped reading the label of whatever brand she was drinking, they all tasted the same after a while. "Callie's, she's... She's my cousin. She disappeared the same time as the Grey-- the Great Zapfish!" 

Daisy just nodded along, she was a great listener after all! Not as good with understanding things or retaining info, but golly could she listen!

"Anyway, she's Agent Two, and... nono, wait. I'm Agent Two, Callie's Agent One. Then there's Agent 3, which--" Marie broke out in a fit of giggles, her alcohol-addled brain thinking it would be funnier if she didn't share Rose's secret identity just yet. "Oh man, Four~ If you only knew about-- about Agent Stinky Three~" This seemed to set her into another fit of giggles, Daisy still nodding along as she prepared a cot for the older agent.

Marie slowly came down from her giggling fit, attempting to take another drink before realizing her bottle was empty. Now she was sad... "Stinky, she's out with grampa now... They isn't-- aren't, they aren't gonna be back for a while..." She sniffled a bit, rubbing her palm against her eyes as Daisy helped her back to her feet. She wasn't gonna cry, she was just... rubbing the tiredness out of her eyes. Yeah. "I was supposed ta watch Inkopolis while grampappy was away... Now errybody's gone..." Daisy picked up a random sheet from the floor and handed it to the idol, who nodded appreciatively before blowing her nose. "Thanks..." she hummed, handing it back to a reluctant Agent 4. Oh, there were words on this... eh, it probably wasn't anything useful~ "S'rry I din't tell you sooner..."

"It's okay," she hums, helping Marie into the cot before pulling the covers up to her chin.

"We'd-- We'd be totes sunk wifout you, Age-- Agent Four. We can, no. We will find Callie if you keep goin'! I knows it~" Daisy nodded and patted the senior agent's head as her eyes closed, still mumbling nothings as she dozed off to sleep. 

The yellow inkling sighed, making sure everything was tidy and the bottles were recycled before undressing from her Hero Suit. As she reached for her headset though, a roar of static rang through the earpiece making her wince, the familiar signal that she was getting a message. But... Marie was asleep, and Sheldon disappeared a while ago! Who could..?

_"Lea... no... **LEAVE NOW!** "_

Daisy stared at the headset, pondering the mystery messanger on the other side before putting it on to respond. "...Sorry, wrong number~"

 _"Wait wha--" Click._ And like that, Daisy shut off her headset, leaving it on the pile of her Hero gear before redressing in her street clothes. Golly, she was surprised at how much she missed wearing underwear after a while~ Though her girlfriends never complained...

Speaking of, she considered stopping somewhere for a takeout dinner on her way home. Lilly was gonna be busy at the flower shop today, and Rose was off on some business trip for a while... Daisy was a bit lonely. Stopping at the sewer grate, she looked down and noticed the last zapfish she had saved, looking up at her with beady eyes.

"Riiiight, Granny takes you home after I save you, don't she?" Humming in thought, Daisy picked up the lil' fish and held it in her arms, certainly giving it a plush seat with her chest. "You can stay with me tonight~ Though don't shed. Lilly, like, hates that."

It squeaked in possibly an agreement before the inkling slipped through the sewers with her new friend, leaving the sun to set over Octo Canyon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like showing the Octarian's point of view of the story. It lets me be overly dramatic! Don't expect it too much though, at least not in this story. Also sorry the Octostomp segment wasn't as long, there's only so much I can write about repetitive fights like this. I would exhaust myself if I made Daisy react to every single detail in this game, and even then not all of it might be funny.
> 
> Still, I hope you're all enjoying this so far, and I wish you all a wonderful night!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Despite Marie's growing alcoholism, Daisy is here to bust through Slimeskin Garrison! Though an emergency comes up along the way, cutting their progress short...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is later than usual, and I have a very good reason for that.
> 
> _ahem_
> 
> _**SPLATOON THREEEEEEEE!** _
> 
> On a serious note, been busy between work and trying to get a project done, so didn't really have time to start up my laptop and update a chapter. Hopefully will get the next one out within a week, especially since it'll be shorter than this one. You'll see why.
> 
> ~~'Daisy Saves the World' sequel for Splat3??? Naaah, just kidding!~~
> 
> ~~...unless?~~

Marie groaned in agony as she returned to the waking world. Her head felt like it was getting beaten by a dynamo roller... The light was too bright, she felt more shriveled up than the Cap'n, and there was too much noise. Something like... light ruffling of clothes. She peeked an eye open to confirm her suspicions, and immediately wished she hadn't.

"Ah! Mornin', Granny~"

Of course it was Daisy. That wasn't the shocking part. It was how shirtless the agent was that made Marie felt like she was going through cardiac arrest.

"UNDERWEAR!" she screeched, hiding her rapidly reddening face under the sheets, now very much more awake. She still felt like crap though. The lightest touch could be felt on her head, as if something was thrown on top of her, and immediately she reached an arm out to fling it back. "NOT FOR ME! PUT ON YOUR COD DAMN UNDERWEAR THIS TIME!"

"Wawawah! I'm sorry!"

Marie let out a pained groan as she sat up, waiting a moment while trying to compose herself. Think happy thoughts, Marie. Callie singing... the Judds sleeping on each other... two burst bombs, bouncing and full-- cod dammit, the sight was burned into her retinas!

After a moment, Daisy let out a delighted hum and patted the other agent's head through the sheets. "Alrighty~ Ready for work~!"

Marie dared to lower the blanket off her head, a relieved sigh escaping her upon seeing Agent 4 fully dressed. "Good. Go to... Area 4, whatever its called... Call me when you find a kettle, you know the drill..."

"Kaykaaaay~" Daisy cheered, but stopped in her tracks before she could leave, turning back to face the hung-over idol. "Oh, right! Got a kettle of tea on the stove for you, and brought your cat back. Took him home last night, hope you don't mind, byeeeee~!" 

And she was off, leaving Marie to wonder what the fuck that last part was supposed to mean. A familiar purr to her right caught her attention, the sickly pop-star noticing a zapfish that was quickly getting comfortable on her now unoccupied pillow. "Well. You must've had fun," Marie muttered, clutching her throbbing head. It let out a catfish-like purr in response as she got up, sighing as she started looking for water bottles and aspirin.

=====  
 **Secret Bowling Alley: Rollin' Through the Ink! These wounds, they will not-- wait, getting ahead of ourselves**

_"Octoballers. Watch out for those."_

Daisy hummed as she watched the spherical Octarians slide on past her, shifting in place and adjusting her grip on the Hero Shot. 

_"...Agent 4, you going to move any time now, or...?"_

"I'm waiting for the light to turn green so I can cross~"

A beat passed before Marie dared to ask. _"...What light?"_

"...Oh!" She perked up as the lack of a crossing light was pointed out, though was quickly disappointed upon realizing she was wasting time for nothing. That usually made Marie upset, and things didn't go well for Daisy when that happened. "...Oh..."

_"Just look both ways and you'll be fine."_

Daisy nodded, looking left (why though? There wasn't anything there) and right before jumping to the other side. Giggling at the sight of the Octarians ducking their heads in and out of the balls, the inkling took aim and shot at one as it passed... causing both the Octarian as well as the bowling ball it had recently resided in to burst! "Granny! They explode~!"

 _"Agent 4, it's too early for this..."_ Marie whined as her recruit stood in the path and started shooting the balls as they came down towards her.

=====

Daisy let out an excited "Woomy~" as she flew through the air, landing on a spawn pad before two snipers and a path of rolling octoballers. 

_"Agent 4!"_ Oh good, it's Sheldon, somehow sounding much more chipper than Marie felt. _"Use the Octoballers as cover to get in close!"_

Daisy, clearly not listening to Sheldon, looked both ways as the bowling balls passed. Seeing her moment, she slid a curling bomb across the ground, the Octosnipers locking onto the oncoming explosion before it took them out. "Strike~!"

A frustrated sigh could be heard over the headset as Daisy proceeded, taking out a third sniper in similar fashion while playing _Frogger_ across the Octoballer lanes. _"Why am I even here."_

_"I don't know, Sheldon. I do not know."_

=====

_"It's HUUUUUGE!"_

Daisy squealed as she booked it for cover, narrowly dodging the massive Octoballer as it tumbled past her. A few shots from a nearby cannon helped clear some out of the way, but the inkling was soon looking up from where they were coming from. Beside the shoot where the giant bowling balls emerged was a platform, a box sitting on its lonesome off the beaten path. "..." Daisy knew a secret when she saw one!

 _"Don't even think about it,"_ Marie warned, immediately seeing what the girl was coming up with.

"..." After what seemed like a rare moment of critical thinking from the airhead, Agent 4 shot the ramp where the ballers were rolling down, inking a path of green for someone to swim up. 

_"Agent 4, I'm warning you. This is a bad idea."_

A small giggle was all the response Marie got. As soon as one of the ballers rolled overhead, she was off, inking and swimming up the path she created towards the second gargantuan orb. Sucking in a breath, Daisy dove for the side platform--

And stuck the landing, making it safely across off the beaten path!

Marie was left to rub her face tiredly while the younger girl squidbagged in celebration, a sunken scrollin hand. "It's too early for alcohol, it's too early for alcohol..."

=====

Marie liked to check in on the new agent every so often. It let her get out of the cabin for a bit, while also helping so that Agent 4 didn't have to superjump all the way back every time she finished a kettle. Plus, some fresh air should help immensely with her hangover. Surprisingly, there was very little ink in... Slimeskin Garrison, that was it. Daisy must've found the first kettle almost immediately. 

Speak of the devilfish, the yellow inkling popped out of the kettle with zapfish in hand. "Ah, well done, Agent. A good warm-up for--" And just like that, she shoved the zapfish into Marie's arms before picking up the Hero Buck-- ahem, Slosher, and heading back for the exact same kettle. "Waitwaitwait, where are you going?!"

"Back. I missed the metal fishy thing, so I gotta go look for it~" She dove back into the kettle, presumably to waste more time and test Marie's patience as she let out an annoyed sigh in solitude.

...Maybe she'll have a jump on one of those bouncepads to cheer herself up while no one was looking.

=====  
 **Octocommander Fortress: Child of the Battlefield**

Daisy certainly wasn't wasting time in the next kettle, swinging her slosh-- ahem, _bucket_ around like it was nobody's business~ It didn't have the same finesse as the Bloblobber, but all buckets held a special place in her heart!

It took only seconds for her to come across the first obstacle of this section: a spinning platform! _"Round and round it goes... I'm actually getting a bit sick watching it spin... urp!"_ Footsteps could be heard over the headset as Marie tried working off her nausea from the lingering hangover while Daisy painted a pretty purple path up the side.

"A box~!" Much to her delight, a box stuck to one of the sides of the spinning obstacle, containing only some power eggs but it was always fun destroying stuff! Breaking the surprise crate, she continued walking along the side as the platform spun, looking for more secret goodies.

_"Oufff... Careful, Agent 4... It might be safer to swim up the walls."_

"I'll be fiiii _yiiiiie!_ "

Of course, she lost her footing and started sliding down the side, clinging to her bucket as her feet kicked for a holding, or anything really! Much to her luck, the platform soon leveled out, leaving a very shooken squid to scramble to more stable ground. "S-swim up the walls, got it..."

_"See~? You can learn~"_

=====

_"Is that an Octostamp DX? Don't see those every day..."_

Daisy looked up at the big guy, having splatted two mini versions (with ease~) to get this far. "Shoot the butt like the others, easy pee zee~"

_"Not so fast, Four. The DX model is indestructible. Just get the key and get out."_

Daisy let out a disappointed whine before inking her way up the wall. The moment it saw her, the Octostamp flung itself at the inkling, said girl using her own ink trail to swim out of the way. Spotting her objective on its back, Daisy recalled her Octo Stomp fight and inked her way up the side, grabbing the key. "See~ Easy pee ze-- EEP!"

She forgot to jump off though as the cubed Octarian jumped back up, flinging the inkling across the platform and further away from the vault. Shaking her head to regain her senses, this left her open to a follow up from the stamp, dragging out a second squeak from her as it fell-- and knocked her off the edge.

 _"Cod... Alright, Four, let's try that again,"_ Marie sighed as her attention returned to the spawn pad, waiting for Daisy to respawn.

...Except she wasn't respawning like she normally did. _"...Agent 4?"_ Marie was... well, worried. Daisy fell off the stage a lot, but she had been fairly safe so far. No one's so much as hit her yet. She wasn't... N-no, that was impossible. _"A-Agent 4?!"_

As the seconds ticked by, the spawner remained silent, failing to bring back that familiar airhead. Marie could feel her ink run cold. Daisy could be a clutz, sure, but nothing really seemed to hurt the girl. Just like a bad rash, she just kept coming back. So until now, Marie hadn't even considered what might happen if she just... didn't. Her mind flashed to Agent 3, Rose, to Cap'n Cuttlefish, to how she would even begin to explain how she had let an innocent girl get hurt on her behalf. How she could even begin to explain to Callie how someone had lost their life trying to save her.

_"...Dais--!"_

"WOOMY~!"

Daisy landed on a small platform above the Octostamp DX, perfectly fine, and even waving around a little slip of paper. "GRANNY~! I found a Crusty Sean coupon~! I'm gettin' a Galactic Shwaffle tonight~!"

_"...Fuck you, Agent 4."_

"Ehhh???"

=====

"Ummm..."

Daisy hummed as she looked over the slew of launch pads, bounce pads, and ink furlers that made up Slimeskin Garrison. It was... a bit of a mess. Going up a wall and across a furler, she was met with a super launch pad, protected by a glass bottle barrier. "Nnnnoooo...?"

Across another furler, shooting herself across the abyss with a dash track, and turning into a squid to get past a grated ceiling... only to be met with the Boss Kettle. "Not that..."

Back across she flew, looking around and hopping onto a hovering bouncepad, hoping the extra air might help her spot a hiding place.

...It didn't help as much as she thought it would. "...Granny? I think I'm lost..."

_"Again?!"_

===== **  
The Experimentorium: Floaty Fun**

_"Hmm... Three locked boxes, three jump pads."_ Daisy hummed as well, but more out of curiosity of the blaster she was given. _"Agent 4, focus!"_

"Blasters are just shooters too, why not lemme have my super shot?"

 _"It's 'Hero Shot', and because I need the data!"_ Sheldon piped in, much to both the other girls' dismay. _"It has a low fire rate, but each shot packs a punch! Even the hardiest defenses can't stand up to it!"_

 _"Focusing on the problem on hand..."_ Marie interrupted, trying to get them back on course.

"Left to right, take the jump pads, find da keys?"

_"Now you're getting it."_

=====

The second Daisy shot that first button along the first path, she regretted it immediately. "Ohhhh Cod. Moving platforms." She stayed absolutely still as things moved around her, very afraid of what might move out from under her if she wasn't careful.

_"Up that wall, Agent."_

"...Wasn't it a floor a second ago?"

_"Semantics."_

She whined out as she slowly walked along the path before her, still worried something was going to move out from under her at a moments notice. "I don't know what that means!"

_"Semantics! Onward!"_

Daisy let out another whine as she pushed onward. This was not gonna be her day...

=====

_"Just shoot the ink tethers, Four!"_

Daisy looked between the objective before glancing downward at the gap between her and the path forward. "...Nope."

_"Oh, come on! Don't tell me you're afraid of heights now!"_

"Not heights. Falling." A series of ink tethers hovered in the air before Four, so it wasn't hard to figure out what to do. Shoot one, fall, shoot the next, repeat. The problem was that there was no ground under the first few, so no practice runs out the gate.

 _"Agent Four, we do not have all day. Pick up the pace! The blasters ridiculous splash range should make sure you hit the next target as long as you aim in the general vicinity."_ Marie's scowl could be heard over the headset, and that was not one wasp nest Daisy wanted to be poking at this early. Taking a deep breath, she aimed and pulled the trigger.

 _Bang!_ "OH!" _Bang!_ "COD!" _Bang!_ "GROUND!" _Bang!_

Somehow, she made it to the end without falling, collapsing to her knees with a sharp outward breath. _"See? Told you it wasn't hard."_

A moment of silence passed before Daisy responded. "...I missed a button."

_"...You're going again, aren't you."_

Already Daisy was turning around, walking towards the launchpad that would put her on the top of the path again. "I missed a button!"

Marie sighed and looked at the clock on the wall. Ten past noon... Still too early to be drinking, if she were honest. _"Come on, Marie, you can show some self restraint if you try..."_

=====

After clearing the third path, Daisy let out a squeal of joy at what awaited her. "My steed~ Come, let us conquer the world once more~!"

Just as she hopped onto the Squee-G than no sooner did a number of Octarian forces appear. Poor unsuspecting welps, dying to the sounds of engine motors and Daisy's maniacal giggling. Taking her time guiding her pets over to where the key lay, the blonde took interest of a can of salmonid eggs on one of the other Squee-Gs. Close enough to hop across, Daisy did just so--

Only for her ride to suddenly swerve to the right, away from her target, and leading her to fall face first onto the ground. Now the prey to three very hungry vacuum cleaners.

"...Yeah. I deserved this..."

=====

Daisy landed on a new part of the stage after a superjump, but not where she thought she'd be. "Where am I? Did I go the right way? How big is this level?!"

Even Marie seemed confused as she looked over the new location on her monitor. Fake trees, floating power eggs, and just a general feel of some deserted tropical paradise. _"It's like your own private island. Except full of deadly Flooders."_ Yes, also a number of towering flooders patrolling the ground, a set few platforms tall enough to protect anyone daft enough to enter the area. She hummed over the headset, figuring this wasn't the right way, but maybe not a total waste of time. _"Seems like a good opportunity to explore a bit. Go ahead and gather some eggs and such. Just don't fall off the platforms and you'll be fine."_

"Pfff, easy~" Ever the cocky one, she wiffed her third jump across the platforms, several red lasers locking onto her pretty yellow head."

"...Yeah, I deserved this too..."

===== **  
Towering Heights: Climb and Slide**

"WOOOMY-- Oh crap the cat!" Daisy landed a bit roughly after that last superjump, groaning as she looked back at the zapfish she had missed by a mile.

 _"You, uh, overshot the Zapfish a bit. No biggie though,"_ Marie assured the young agent, wondering if the debris floating around had anything to do with her aim. That was some science nonsense Sheldon could focus on though, her attention was more on the platform Daisy was currently on. _"Ooh, I've seen this kind of staircase before. It's called a... uh..."_

 _"It's called a square spiral staircase!"_ Sheldon cut in unannounced, causing Marie to jolt in her seat and for Daisy to wiff her aim at an Octotrooper. Darn snipers...

Marie had half a mind to call Sheldon out on his bullsquid for eavesdropping on their conversation, only to be cut off by none other than Agent 4. "Aren't all stairs square though? If they were round, we'd just roll down them whenever we tried walking up~"

Silence came out from the other two ends of the transceiver, both Sheldon and Marie stunned silent by the blonde squid's astounding leap in logic.

"...Hello? Did I get cut off...? Granny, I can't hear you guys, but if you can hear me, I'm ignoring Sheldon so I can blow up these shooty guys! ...Hello?"

=====

Daisy landed after another superjump and opened fire on a grind rail spawner. Much to her amusement, she watched it extend and wrap around a floating tower nearby. Round and round and round it went, her eyes glued to the extending path as if flew upward, and slowly made its way back down where it ended just above her head. "Awesome~" Then she remembered she had a sniper and sighed as she knew what was coming up next. 

Shooting the enemies while moving wasn't easy, but once she saw the calamari rings spawning in after each kill, it gave her a bit on incentive to hit her targets. With mouth and pockets full of crispy rings, Daisy hummed in content as she approached the top.

 _"Alright, here comes the end. Think you can make this jump?"_ Daisy let out a hum of confirmation and watched the goal approach... and continued riding right past it back down. _"Uh, you kinda missed your chance?"_ Another hum came from Daisy, leading Marie to sigh in resignation. _"You're riding this for fun, aren't you?"_ A third hum led Marie to reach for the nearest bottle she could. It was after noon now, she deserved this.

=====

_"Agent 4, just shoot the Octosnipers!"_

"Eep! Eep! Eep! Eep!"

Daisy was surrounded by three eager Octosnipers, all taking aim at the bouncing yellow inkling as she flailed and jumped around the puzzling platform. Instead of shooting them however, she was just inking walls while trying to find the way out, clutching a meal ticket and a scroll to her chest while she fled. Apparently, she didn't want to even try her horrid aim with a charger against these guys.

With her Hero uniform blown off (making Marie oh-so glad she insisted on her wearing something underneath this time), Daisy successfully jumped up a wall and launched herself to a new area, out of harm's way. "Ha... Haaaah... Kn-knew I could do it...~"

_"It would've been easier if you actually shot at back at them..."_

Not paying Marie's griping much mind, Daisy composed herself and pressed onward, stopping shortly after as she looked upward. "Pretty~"

The screens above her were meant to simulate the actual sky, this kettle projecting a starry sky. While cracks in some screens and one or two blacked out monitors distracted from the immersion, the floating sparkles and rocky debris gave the world a feel as though they were in space. _"When we were kids... Callie and I would count the stars together at night..."_

"Were the stars the same that long ago, Granny?" Instead of the usual sassy remark about her age, Daisy only heard a slight sniffle. "...Granny?" No response. A few seconds of waiting told her Marie had likely stepped away from the radio to have a moment. Fingers drumming along the Hero Charger, the blonde eventually set the gun down and took a seat, legs idly dangling off the edge of the platform as she waited and stared up at the stars.

A good few minutes later, rustling could be heard on the other end of the radio, a slight sniffle letting her know her supervisor had returned. _"A-Agent 4, what are you doing?"_

"Waiting for you to come back~"

_"The zapfish is right over there, you could have just finished this level."_

"I don't mind waiting. I can't do this without you, after all~"

The idol was stunned by the sentiment, for once not in a dumbfounded manner. A soft sigh left Marie's lips as she sat up in her seat. _"...Thank you, Daisy. Shall we, then?" ___

__"Kaykaaaay~!"__

 _ _===== **  
Octolings Ahoy!: Moray Twilight**__

 _ _Marie, in one of her rare moments, was impressed by Agent Four's work. Perhaps it was because this kettle was designed to look like Moray Towers, or perhaps because the yellow inkling had her trusty Hero Bucket on hand. Or maybe the idol simply underestimated how skilled she was as a turf player. Regardless of the reason, she was absolutely _destroying_ the stage!_ _

__Despite the enemy Octolings having blasters on hand, Daisy was practically dancing around each shot without so much as getting a drop of splash damage on her, wiping them out with a single bucket fling. Even the two Octo Snipers they planted around the field didn't last long, the agent using her array of bombs to skillfully take them out from a distance. Running into an ink wall mid-grind rail seemed to knock her off-course, but even in the midst of enemy territory she was still showing no signs of slowing down! Every move was planned on the spot, every dive into ink to refill her tank was timed perfectly, everything she seemed to do was simply optimal if not overwhelming in power! Marie was greatly impressed, and for a moment she forgot the girl was an airhead, and instead thought of her as a proper choice for an agent of the NSS..._ _

__But all good things must come to an end._ _

__"Woah woah woah! Timeout! Timeout!" Daisy was surrounded-- though only by the broadest of definitions-- by three enemy Blasters, who managed to hold their fire at the inkling's outcry. They, and even Marie, were wondering what would cause this beast on the battlefield to stop so suddenly._ _

__The answer was her phone, which was ringing in her pocket before she picked it up. "Hello~?"_ _

__Marie, despite her flabbergasted state, was still able to choke out her surprise. _"Wh-- You're taking a call now?! How do you even have service out here?!"__ _

__Daisy put a hand over the phone's speaker before tilting her head to the side to speak into the headset now hanging around her neck. "One sec, Granny. I'm, like, on the phone." Ignoring the audible annoyance on the other end of the radio to focus instead on her phone, the blonde nodded and gave the occasional affirmative in response to whoever she was speaking with. "Okay, love you too~" After a moment, she seemed to finally finish up her conversation before putting her phone away. "Sorry everyone, I gotta go~"_ _

__Marie sputtered as she tried to find her words. Go where?! _"You only have half the mini zapfish! Can't you finish this up?!"__ _

__"Nope! That was Lills! She and I are, like, going on a date today since Rosy is out on her business meeting or whatevs~ Like, the three of us usually go on dates together, but Lills wants to hang out, and I can't say no to her~"_ _

__While Marie groaned in her defeatist attitude, the Octolings were meanwhile conversing in their own tongue after listening in on half of Daisy's conversation. One of them, 308, built up the courage to speak up, mostly because she spoke the best inkling language out of the three. "Hey? Um... did you say you're dating... two girls?"_ _

__Daisy looked back at the trio, completely forgetting they were there for a bit. "Yeah, I am~ We're all dating each other~♡"_ _

__The Octolings were shocked, the second one (508) feeling her cheeks heating to a deep crimson at the prospect. The third, 408, seemed the most excited about it, shouting out, "That option all this time?!"_ _

__"Yeah, totes!"_ _

__The three looked between each other, silently coming to a conclusion with increasing blushes as 308 stepped forward. "C-can we come with? I think we have some... questions..."_ _

__The only inkling of the group pumped her fists into the air before picking up her bucket. "Yooo~ Totes~! We can have a double date~! Or is it a quintuple date~? I dunno, but shell yeah, let's go~!"_ _

__Daisy missed the Octolings' combined nervousness at the suggestion the three of them were all dating now, but they seemed to share the Agent's excitement as they followed along, 408 skipping along her while 508 and 308 stumbled behind, fingers interlocked._ _

__..._ _

__Marie, meanwhile, was appalled at this outcome. She just got ignored by her agent and the enemy! On top of that, there was still two kettles and the boss that was getting put off until tomorrow now, apparently. Letting out an angered groan, the gray inkling started pouring herself a large glass from the bottle, aiming to get herself hammered to put today behind her. "Fuckin' lesbians..." she muttered, bitter at the airheaded Agent and Marie's own single-ness._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry Marie, you don't have enough badges to train Daisy. That's probably why she keeps calling you names.
> 
> Sadly, 308, 408, and 508 don't make any further appearances in this fic, but you can rest assured they live happily ever after in a poly relationship somewhere on the surface~ Next chapter is probably gonna be brief, just two stages and the boss kettle, but I should be able to get it out sooner at least! Maybe a day or two? 
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading, and have a wonderful night! _SPLATOON THREEEEEE!_


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter summaries are hard! Daisy comes back to the Canyon, and Marie tries to get some sleep! Shenanigans ensue!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So someone pointed out to me that Marie is 19 in Splatoon 2... Which makes her the same age or a year younger than Daisy.
> 
> Honestly that just makes calling her Granny funnier to me~

By the time Daisy came back the next morning, Marie was passed the fuck out, content to stay in the void of unconsciousness for as long as need be, it seems. Shrugging and pulling a blanket over the sleeping idol, the young Agent went about getting ready for the day. The last kettle she was in was only halfway finished, but she definitely had three less Octolings to worry about today, so it would be easy~

Picking her bucket up, she trotted over to the super jump launch pad, ready for the day. Marie could sleep in, what was the worst that could happen?

=====

_"Ah, Agent 4! Good morning!"_ Ah carp. Right, Sheldon. _"I couldn't reach Agent 2, do you know what her status is?"_

Letting out a sigh, Daisy briefly considered just taking off her headset for the day before responding. "Granny's napping right now..."

_"Well, as long as she's okay! I suppose this means it's just you and me today! Let's do our best, Agent 4, I'll be here giving my support the whole time!"_

If Daisy could say fuck, she would.

=====  
 **Propellerland: Rubber Parasoles**

_"Ah, the Hero Brella! The coolest new weapon around!"_

New? What's he talking about? The brella has been out for a while; even one of her girlfriends mained one of these. Daisy ignored the rest, zoning out Sheldon's babble as she inspected the weapon. "Ooh~ Lills uses these~!" Looking down off the edge of the spawn platform, she immediately came up with an idea as she opened her weapon and held it above her head...

Jump! Off the starting platform~!

...And landing on her feet with a thud shortly after, twenty feet down.

_"I should probably point out, extending the Hero Brella doesn't actually slow down your fall speed!"_

"N-now you tell me..." Daisy whined as she struggled to retain function over her legs. Thank Cod squids don't have bones, or hers would be in bad shape right about now.

=====

The propeller-powered platforms weren't anything new (Remember the early sniper stages? Boy, Agent 4 has come a long ways~), so it shouldn't come as a surprise that they moved when shot. Easy thing to understand, even for an airhead.

Yet Daisy continued to shoot one propeller every few seconds, letting it rise back up before sending it down again, her eyes glued on the Flooder that kept falling yet could never reach her.

_"...Agent 4, are you going to--"_

"Be here for a while, yes. Now hush."

Sheldon sighed and made himself comfortable. So this was why Agent 2 primarily dealt with Agent 4. Now it made sense.

(Actually, they just don't like hearing you ramble. Sorry, Sheldon.)

=====

Daisy let out an oof as she landed another super jump, her legs still sore from her initial landing in the kettle. Looks like she was going to take it slow for a while--

"Oh COD, GROUND!" Daisy stayed absolutely still as she looked around, the brella clutched in her arms her only support. As if her legs didn't feel shaky enough... "Sh-SHELDON! WHERE DID THE GROUND GO?!"

This question certainly caught the horseshoe crab by surprise as he returned his attention to the monitor. _"Ah, invisible platforms. This is Octarian tech too! It's actually quite interesting--"_

"I DON'T CARE! WHAT DO I DO?!"

Sheldon let out a sigh and put his notes away for now. Another time. _"It's not that hard, really. Ink the floor, and you'll see where you can walk! Either use the Hero Brella, or curling bombs to see the path ahead!"_

Daisy nodded at his assurance, pulling a curling bomb out and letting it slide forward. It did just that, inking the floor in Daisy yellow before bouncing off an invisible box and returning... just before falling off the side of the opaque platform behind Daisy. "...I wanna go home..."

=====

Two keys obtained and Daisy was on her way to the vault. Despite some heart attacks and setbacks, she could almost see the end of the stage already! Well, until the middle of the platform suddenly dropped down a foot right beneath her. "My knees!"

The familiar giggle of an enemy Octoling made itself known to the tipped over inkling, the two quickly pointing guns at each other.

"...Do you wanna join my squad of girlfriends~?"

A growl and spray of ink let Daisy know that, no, this one did not swing that way. Thankfully, her brella made a useful shield~

=====

"Shit, it's noon already...?" Marie groaned as she tidied herself up for the day... or what was left of it. Putting the booze away and practically inhaling several water bottles, the idol made her way to her seat with the monitor to get set up. Or at least, she was going to until she realized everything was already running. "What the...?"

 _"Ah, good afternoon, Agent 2!"_ Ah, Sheldon. Not the first voice she wanted to hear in the morning, if she were honest. _"Hope you don't mind, but Agent 4 and myself have already started clearing kettles!"_

Well, certainly not the worst news to start the day. "Thank you, Sheldon. Hopefully it hasn't been too much for you?"

_"Well, there's been a few hiccups, but nothing Agent 4 couldn't overcome. She's already finished the kettle from yesterday and cleared the last!"_ This brought a small sigh of relief from Marie as she made herself comfortable.

"Speaking of, where is our little savior of Inkop--"

_"Granny~!"_ Oh no... _"I didn't know you had a radio show~! It's way past my bedtime though, but maybe Lills will let me stay up one night~"_

Marie sighed and took another sip of water. Oh no. _This_ was the savior of Inkopolis... Wait.

"...Oh fuck! I forgot the radio show!" Marie had several calls to make afterwards.

=====  
 **Sanitizarium: The Octo Shower**

_"I could REEEEALLY use more data on this weapon, Agent Four."_

_"...Sheldon. This is a Boss kettle. Let's maybe not risk her life with a weapon she can barely aim?"_

_"Agent 2. Progress requires sacrifice~"_

"Can I, like, not be the sacrifice...?" Daisy muttered, shifting the provided weapon in her grip as she continued trying to pronounce the name of the kettle. "S-- Sanitary-- Sanitizim--"

_"Quiet, Sacrifice. Now go get me that data!"_

Letting out a whine, Daisy carried the Hero Charger into the arena, the stage certainly looking different than the usual boss kettles. Most didn't have more platforms on them! You probably get what happened next: zapfish, tentacle, boss. The Octo Shower!

_"Bet you wished you had your 'bucket' now, don't you? I'd like to see a slosher hit an enemy that high up!"_

_"We get it, Sheldon, now be quiet. Agent 4 has to concentrate on aiming. And dodging. And not falling off tall platforms."_

"I'm bad at thinking under pressure!"

=====

Daisy was able to hit the flying Octarians that carried the Octo Shower easily enough. She just had to get in super close and wait for the boss to stop moving so much. It killed the expert sniper inside Marie a little to watch. It also helped that the 'Great' Octoweapon was dumb as bricks, trying to shoot at the inkling when its splatling-like gun was blocked completely by one of the pillars.

With the third Octocopter blasted, the Shower laid on the ground defenseless against Daisy's sights! "...Is that a rubber duckie?"

_"Not now, Agent 4,"_ Marie interrupted, trying to get the airhead back on track. _"Just focus on shooting the tentacle!"_

"...Can I have the--"  
 _"Shoot."_  
"But--"  
 _"The."_  
"I want--"  
 _"Tent."_  
"But duck--"  
 _"Ah."_  
"I--"  
 _"Cull!"_

Daisy whined but did as she was told, blasting the main tendril in two charged shots. Giving one more look at the rubber duck sitting atop the Octo Shower, she super jumped back to start for round two. This wouldn't be too hard, right?

====

"No hugs!" Daisy screamed as she ran away from the ink-seeking missiles.

"No cleaning!" She continued to yell, toppling off a tower to save herself from the Octo Shower's namesake attack.

"NO MORE!" Honestly, the poor girl was getting exhausted running around. If she wasn't dodging machine gun fire, she was running for dear life from the Sting Ray that aimed at her through walls. Every time she got close enough to shoot again, those little propeller bastards kept drifting lazily out of the way. 

After a few hectic rounds, the final shot was fired into the Octo Shower's tentacle, Daisy bracing behind a wall for the epic grand explosion that followed!

...

Or perhaps, an explosion that wasn't coming.

"...The heck?" Daisy dared look out from her cover, fearing for another round. Just for the Great Octo Weapon to explode in her face the moment she stepped out, the only things Sheldon and Marie could see or hear was green ink and the sound of a rubber duck hitting something, followed by a "BWEH!" from Daisy.

"Well, that was more uneventful than I was expecting," Marie mused, at least grateful the fight ended before she could bust open another bottle in her quickly growing stash.

_"¡ʞƆ∀q ʞOO˥ ɹƎΛƎN pN∀ MON ƎΛ∀Ǝ˥ ¡N∩ɹ"_

Marie held the transceiver away from her ear at the sudden outburst. That... Wasn't Agent 4. Though now that she thinks about it... "Are... uh... Are you holding the phone upside down?" It definitely seemed like a Daisy thing to do, if she were honest... Oh Cod, she's been hanging around the ditz for too long!

_"Ugh, I totally was."_ Wait, that sounded like--

"CALLIE?!"

_"Um... Nope, this is definitely not Callie!"_ Callie tried to protest, the gray haired inkling not fooled in the least. _"So just... leave. It's dangerous here! And it's not safe at all!"_

"Ummmm..." Honestly, if she didn't already know her cousin's voice by heart, Marie would have assumed it really was Daisy on the other end of the line. "Don't those mean the same thing?" 

_"WHATEVER! JUST GET OUT OF HERE! I'm not calling again!"_

"W-wait! Don't go! Callie?! CALLIE!" She couldn't believe it. Callie wasn't really working with the Octarians now... was she? It felt impossible, after everything they've been through, there had to have been a good reason! Was she a hostage? A prisoner?!

...She needed to save Callie. They've waited long enough! She needed to see her cousin, her soul sister again. She needed...

_"Granny! I got the rubber duckie~! It hit me on the head when the thingy blew up~"_

"Agent 4. I need your help, more than ever now. We need to keep going."

_"Ehhh? But I just beat the big thingy. Don't I get to go home after that part? Then I come back the next day, and we find more of your cats--"_

"Agent 4, _please!_ " Marie winced as she felt her voice crack over the headset, biting her thumb as a nervous tick. She told herself now wasn't the time for breaking down; she was supposed to be the cool and calm one. Yet every second she was apart from her cousin, she felt a part of that collected persona slowly slipping away. Maybe Daisy... wasn't as bad as she pretended. 'Tolerating' the inkling was just an excuse to distract her from how much she was missing Callie... "Please. We need to keep going..."

Daisy was quiet for the most part, looking between the next super jump pad and the one that would take her back to Tentakeel Outpost. What felt like hours of waiting in anticipation for the idol was really only a few seconds as Agent 4 made up her mind. _"...Kaykaaaay~"_

Marie let out a relieved sigh, wiping stray tears from the corners of her eyes. "Thank you, Agent 4. Let's not waste any more time then."

Daisy nodded on the other end, hopping down platforms and running to the next jump pad. With a cry of 'Booyah~!', she was soaring through the air to the final destination: Cephalon HQ.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, that really was a short chapter. However, next chapter is a long one, covering all the kettles in the final area, though I'll be saving the Boss fight for its own chapter. What could be awaiting our heroes?!
> 
> ...Who am I kidding, you guys probably already know. Splatoon 2 came out in 2017, there's no spoilers, I'm just late to the party. Also the chapter might be delayed a bit, as my left hand is acting a bit janky at the time of writing this, but hopefully it'll pass by tomorrow with some rest.
> 
> Thanks for reading, and have a wonderful night!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cephalon HQ. The final area of Octo Canyon. How will Daisy fair against the strongest defenses the Octarians have? Will making summaries of chapters ever get easier? And how will Marie's slowly-growing booze stash survive before nightfall?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 30 kudos and 400 hits! Thanks for all the support I've been getting on this story so far, it really does mean a lot to me! I didn't actually expect a collection of dumb little snippets to get this much traction, but I'm glad to see some people enjoying this!

"...oooOOOOMY~"

Daisy's excited cry echoed in the depths of Octo Canyon as she made her landing, taking a good look around. It was... gloomier than the past few places had been. Too far down to properly get sunlight, even at high noon, with a sea of purple liquid surrounding most of the platforms like islands. Flashy lights and hovering UFO-shaped platforms were the only things indicating there was any life in the area, and definitely a clear sign there were Octarians to be found.

 _"Let's get started, Agent 4!"_ Marie's voice came in through Daisy's headset, sounding much more chipper than she did a few minutes ago. _"Just... be careful not to fall into that ooze."_

"I got this~!" Daisy leapt onto a UFO as it was passing, shifting the Hero Charger in her hands as she flew off to find the kettles. "...Where am I going?"

_"...Good question..."_

=====  
 **Octoling Workout: Forge Those Mussels**

Daisy giggled as she lifted her bucket up in her arms, looking around the battlefield. "Oh hey~ I'm good at this place~" Indeed, the inside of her first kettle bore a near identical resemblance to Musselforge Fitness center, with only a handful of changes here and there. Perhaps the choice of making these stages look like Turf War stages wasn't the best idea of the Octarians, yet here they were once more. Against an excitable Inkling with a bucket who already knew most of the battlefield. The Octolings didn't wait long for Daisy though as a roller super jumped to her location when she picked up a case of armor.

"It's over, Octoling! I have the high ground!" Daisy gave her a fair warning, but did the Octo listen? No, she just kept trying to fling ink at the agent with a weapon that had a low fling distance. With a sigh, the inkling simply flung the contents of her slosher once, taking out the dark-haired soldier before moving on. This wouldn't take too long...

=====

Given this was the forth time now that Daisy's fought Octoling squadrons in the kettles, it was fairly clear that she had no real trouble wiping out (or seducing) any enemy that came at her. With the Hero Slosher in hand, it just removed the difficulty all together. She was still having fun, but the challenge wasn't really there.

So, she made her own challenge.

_"Agent 4! Fight back!"_

Despite Marie's orders, Daisy refused, clutching her bucket to her chest as she ducked and weaved past enemy fire. She took out the sprinklers, boxes, and zapfish barriers that were in her way... but not the Octolings. The bold and clever Agent 4 wanted to see if she could get all the fishies without fighting the enemy. To her credit, she was doing fairly well, gathering over half the mini-zapfish before getting splat, but that was mostly due to the extra armor she kept finding lying around.

It didn't get much easier once she was in enemy territory. Trying to ink the ground so she could escape and move on without accidentally hitting the enemy was no simple task. Not to mention, due to her purposely making things more difficult than they needed to be, she had more and more Octolings chasing after her the further she went, giving her little room to avoid getting hit and fewer opportunities to rest up. While a struggle, it wasn't impossible as she neared the goal.

"Got it!" Daisy cried out, nabbing the final mini-zapfish and lifting it above her head as several Octolings had her surrounded. She panted, looking between the multiple shades staring at her as she soaked in her victory. "...What now?"

Surprisingly, the Octolings didn't shoot her on the spot, each of them looking between the other in confusion. There hasn't really been a case so far when the zapfish were reclaimed but there were still soldiers left. Normally Daisy or Agent 3 splatted them all before completing their goal. [Uhh... We are not sure. There's no protocol for this,] the head elite spoke up, just as lost as her subordinates.

Of course, Daisy didn't understand a word the soldier said, so there was a few seconds of awkward silence in the group where she was left just holding the various fish she gathered. Eventually, a decision was made by the bold Agent. "...Wanna makeout~?"

The consensus was fairly split between the soldiers, while back at the Cabin, Marie was opening a new bottle of tequila. _"Fucking lesbians..."_

=====  
 **Transfer Junction: Intersection of the Soul**

Daisy ooh'd and ahh'd at her surroundings, a lovely sea view with a sunset in the distance, giving the place a rather romantic feel to it. Now if she only had any romantic people to share the view with.

 _"You know those are just screens, right? Everything in the scenery is fake."_ See what she meant?

Thankfully, Daisy's goal was just in sight, the zapfish sitting a mere 20 feet away... on a platform straight above her. She gave a whine as she tried jumping, but even the extra foot or two from standing on her slosher didn't give her the jumping height she needed to reach it. _"Sorry, squiddo. Long way around it is."_

"But it's right theeeeere!"

_"You know how to aim a super jump without launch pads or beakons?"_

"...No..."

_"Then you best start walking. Try to watch your step; the scenery might be fake, but that water looks pretty real to me."_

Daisy huffed in annoyance, picking up her bucket before making her way down the path. "If only I brought my swimsuit... And Rose, so I could show off my mad cannonball skillz~"

_"Yes, she would definitely be watching your cannonballs, I don't doubt that."_

=====

After climbing some walls, inking some cubes, and having Sheldon call her a 'block-rocker', Daisy managed to make it up another set of floating platforms

 _"Wow, you're way up there,"_ Marie mused, wondering how often Four found herself in precariously dangerous heights. In contrast to where she began, she was now above the zapfish, though a sizeable distance away still.

"I can jump it."

Marie groaned and shook her head, looking at the drop that separated Daisy from her goal. _"No. You can't. Even if your suit had swim speed or some other abilities on it- which it doesn't- you still wouldn't make it."_

Daisy hummed, inking the ground next to the super jump pad (which infuriated the idol that she was literal inches away from the path forward and still found some way to take a detour) before stepping back a few feet. Both Marie and Sheldon sucked in sharp breaths as they watched her swim forward, jump out of the ink, and fling a splat bomb towards the zapfish before barely catching herself back in the puddle. Surprisingly, the bomb bounced off of the platform the zapfish was on before falling into the depths below. This only encouraged Daisy to try again, making another dangerous jump over the edge before landing her bomb on her target, watching it explode below.

"See~ I can totes make that~!"

_"Four, I don't think--"_

It was too late for Marie to stop her as Daisy swam up, avoiding the jump pad once again, and leapt off the edge for real! ...And disintegrated after falling a few feet, putting her on the spawn pad down the path some way. "What?! I had that!"

 _"Oh. Maybe I forgot to mention. The Hero Jacket has a safety measure, it safely splats you if you fall off a ledge and there's no ground within a certain distance from you."_ Strange how Marie forgot to mention that part, given the number of times that feature had 'saved' Daisy in the past. _"You best start walking. Again."_

Daisy grumbled as she rocked her way back up the blocks, the dumb layout of the stage stopping her from taking the easy way out.

=====

_"Geez, these Octarians and their weird moving platforms!"_ Daisy would agree with Sheldon, if only she weren't scared for her life. These weren't the slow moving platforms she was used to; they jolted back and forth and up and down quickly and suddenly. Which wouldn't be a problem if there weren't also Octarians attached to these pillars, firing at her if she even considered jumping to the next part.

With a slow breath, Daisy painted the column in front of her purple, taking the first step as she slowly crawled up the wall. A bit too slowly for the pillar's liking it seemed as it jolted upward, flinging the airhead upward and onto the top with a scared squeal. A near miss from an Octarian to her right caught her attention, leading the inkling to prop herself up with her bucket. 

Even with the slosher's range, it was just in range for a quick fling. And fling she did, sending a wave of purple at the aggressive enemy... only for the Octarian's platform to scoot away, sending her ink into the waters below. Then Daisy's own pillar dropped, bringing out another squeal from her. "GET ME OFF THIS CRAZY RIDE!"

=====

Somehow Daisy managed to pass by the hellish landscape that was moving pillars, and after a short rest and a small cry, she was back on her way to the zapfish and ready to take on more enemies!

 _"Uh... No baddies here?"_ Quite true to Marie's observation, there wasn't a single Octarian waiting for Daisy, the pigtailed agent even looking under different nooks and cranies looking for the enemy. The only thing before her was some platforms, two upper levels, and a cube with switches on its sides floating in the air. _"Are the Octarians on lunch break?"_

Daisy inked the bottom of the cube, the ground under her lifting her up a few feet before going back down. A puzzle~! "Granny, when's my lunch break?"

_"I'll make you a sandwich once you get the zapfish. Weird, I was expecting more resistance though."_

What neither of them knew was that the Octarians had set up an ambush for the Agent. In order to reach the zapfish, Daisy would need to ink all the switches on the floating cube. The issue was that she wouldn't be able to reach the top without climbing up to one of the elevated levels! Even then, once they jumped her, the cube would rotate so she couldn't so easily ink all of the sides! All they needed to do was wait until she felt safe and comfortable, giving them the perfect opportunity of surprise! Truly, a foolproof plan!

...Or so they thought. 'Foolproof' wasn't quite the right term as Daisy started inking the bottom and side switches with her Hero Bucket, the sloshing range surprisingly far for a close-range weapon like hers. When all that was left was the switch on the top, she took out a little autobomb, gave it a kiss on the head, and tossed it upward as a platform carried her up. It landed on the cube... and the path forward was revealed.

With a _'ding'_ from a checkpoint, Daisy looked around in confusion as the zapfish sat not ten feet in front of her. "...Why is there a checkpoint here?"

_"No idea. But you did well. Grab that zapfish and I'll have that sandwich ready for you once you get back."_

"Kaykaaaay~ Oh, no tomatoes please!"

_"Heh, kaykaaaay."_

As Daisy left, the Octarians continued sitting in wait, expecting to jump the lone agent at any given moment. They just needed her to jump onto their platforms... At aaaany second now...

=====

Daisy took a slow breath as she rode a UFO across the sea of sludge that made up Cephalon HQ, keeping her eyes on a bright blue balloon. She held the Hero Charger in her hands, and while she still wasn't the best at it, it was the only weapon in her arsenal with a long range and a quick charge. With cross-hairs aimed at her round target and images of Rose in her mind, Daisy took her shot, causing the balloon to burst before turning on her heel to aim at the second. The UFO could do the moving for her, she just needed to aim!

Her hearts skipped a beat as two more floaties appeared after that, yet she kept her focus! **Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!** One more just in her range as she leapt off the floating platform and ran across the island she started on. Just one more satisfying **POP** , and the inkling's prize was revealed: the last commemorative souvenir sticker of Octo Canyon~

...Currently floating in midair on nothing but a puddle of green ink, an invisible platform with no visible routes claiming Daisy's prize. "Oh, come ON!"

=====  
 **The Showdown: Fear the Octo Samurai... Again**

Daisy's ink was pumping wildly as she did her best to compose herself, taking slow deep breaths while her enemy spawned. The boss was certainly taking its time coming up, making her nerves run rampant, her fingers growing clammy around the curling bomb in her grip. She was as ready as she was ever going to be, and with a roar from the Octo Samurai, she was off!

The curling bomb slid right for the fat Octarian with Daisy swimming right behind it, taking her moment in the ink to switch to splat bombs. The curling bomb bounced off the Samurai's belly just as he swung down with his roller, Daisy getting right up in his face while narrowly dodging his attack. Throwing the splatbomb at their feet, both it and the curling bomb behind him went off, giving some serious damage. Yet the inkling didn't let up, assaulting him with splash after splash with her bucket.

In an explosion of octo-chunks, the Samurai burst and his spawner flew into the air, giving Daisy precious seconds to sink in her ink and refill her tank. The moment it floated to the surface, she resumed her assault, the tentacle emerging and getting hit with a midair slosh before needing only two flings to burst.

As Daisy flew through the air for round two, she switched back to curling bombs and waited for her opponent to get back up. This was the make it or break it point; she couldn't afford to stall or mess up here, or everything would be for naught...

With another roar from the Samurai, Daisy repeated her steps and swam through the curling bomb trail, switching back to splat bombs as he jumped right for her. Unlike the first round, the curling bomb would be too far away to damage him, and she had less time to refill her ink before he was on her. Dodging under his downward swing again, Daisy flung the splat bomb-- she made sure she wasn't still on curling again-- at their feet and sloshed like she never sloshed before!

The bomb carried her through the Octarian's second flinch, her eyes locked on him, certain she couldn't miss with her main. Not now, when she needed it the most. The second time the Octo Samurai exploded, her tank beeped, signalling she was out of ink-- just barely made it. She popped his tentacle and returned to step one.

Daisy was running on pure adrenaline, tunnel vision focused on the Octo Weapon as his roller spun. If Sheldon or Marie were trying to talk to her, she couldn't hear it over the ringing in her ears, not even the kettle's funky beat could reach her. Never before had she been more focused than at this very moment.

One final roar, and she was off, swimming after a curling bomb that left her hand faster than her mind could register. She was on automatic, her body going through the very practiced motions that she had prepared for this moment. Splat bomb and curling bomb working together to help push her over the final hurdle, Daisy followed the same pattern from the first round, only letting up when she knew throwing ink was a waste of energy and ink. With a final pop of the Octarian's tentacle, she was super jumping back to the start, the Octo Samurai spawner ready to burst.

...And yet, it wasn't over. She couldn't affort to rest or relax. She couldn't slip up here, not when she's come so close!

The smoke cleared, the yellow orb of a contained zapfish (plushie) a sharp contrast on the green ink that covered the arena. Despite having plenty of ink to swim in, Daisy threw one last curling bomb and swam after, ignoring the salmonid eggs and faux Salmonium that was her prize. The sound of a shattering glass hit her ears, likely the impact of her bomb bursting the barrier on contact, and she flung herself at the zapfish, rolling along the ground with the stuffed toy in her arms.

Finally, it was over, Daisy rolling onto her back and gasping for air, the zapfish limply laying on her arm as she stared up at the ceiling. "T... Tiiiiime...?"

 _"Forty six seconds on the dot!"_ Sheldon's voice came over her headset, the first time Daisy thinks she's heard him speak since she stepped into the kettle. She wasn't too sure, and she certainly didn't care. _"You managed to beat your Hero Shot high-score by a second!"_

As if hit by a second wind, Daisy was squealing and rolling around the floor in overwhelming joy, likely crushing the zapfish to death against her bosom were it not a stuffed doll.

Marie blinked at the display, her hand instinctively reaching for a bottle. And she had been doing so well today too... _"Um, guys? Remember our mission? Saving Callie? What happened to that...?"_

=====  
 **Platform Madhouse: Please Mind the Gap**

Daisy eyed the moving platforms carefully, watching them slowly slide across the ground, dip over the edge, and eventually come back around. She knew there was a secret under her feet, her gut instincts as a secret hunter told her so, and these platforms were the key! All she had to do was ride one, wait for it to tilt, then jump through the gap--

She gave a whine as her body evaporated as she missed the platform she had meant to land on, really starting to dislike this 'safety feature' in her uniform. Marie's annoyed groan came over the radio as her spirit floating back to the beginning of the stage, the younger agent going back to where she fell off. _"Agent 4! You've fallen off twice now, and you haven't even hit the first checkpoint!"_

"I'll go over in a minute~!"

_"Go now! I don't want to be held responsible because of your reckless abandon!"_

"Uuuuuugh... Fiiiiiiine."

She would fall off one more time after that check point, but at least she got a Crust Bucket coupon. Totes worth it.

=====

Despite her reputation with moving and rotating platforms, Daisy managed to pass by most of the stage with... relative ease. She had the whole kettle to get used to the Hero Splatling, you'd think she would remember not to dive back into her ink the moment she let go of the trigger like with most of her guns. 

She was a bucket main, leave her alone.

The odd part happened when she hit a hidden switch right as she reached the zapfish, opening a new super jump pad. Of course, with her goal in literal arms reach, how could she resist the urge to divert from her mission to go exploring? _"Cod... dammit, Agent 4,"_ Marie sighed as Daisy soared through the air to a far off platform.

 _"Wuh... Is this some kind of long-forgotten deserted island?"_ Sheldon mused, causing Daisy to tune him out and ignore the oncoming PTSD flashbacks from the last 'secret island' she visited. So... _so_ many flooders... Instead, she focused on the only inhabitants of the island: an Octo Stamp DX, with little palm trees growing on its head to really sell the island motif.

"Aww, why would they leave you up here all on your own? Don'tcha have friends~?"

Despite her sympathy, it seemed to take her comment negatively as it rolled on over to her, faceplanting where she was only a mere moment ago. Getting back up, it looked around with a groan, losing sight of its prey before aimlessly wandering the platform again.

Daisy, meanwhile, was chillaxing on its head, lying under the plastic palm trees as if enjoying the tropical sunlight. Oh, how Marie was wishing she had her charger on her right about now. _"Agent 4, would you stop messing around?!"_

=====

"Alright, next kettle..." Marie sighed as she watched Daisy ride a UFO back to the beginning platform where she stood. "You think you can make it back here without falling again?"

"No sweat, Granny~ This lil' guy is safe with me~" She said as she miss timed her step onto the next island, slipping between the two and falling towards the sea of purple. The zapfish meanwhile managed to wiggle out of the agent's arms, floating away to safety as she plummeted to her untimely demise.

"I knew it..." Marie sighed, burying her face in her hands. 

"OH COD GROUN-- GHHK!" she screamed, only to land on... nothing a few feet above the surface of the toxic sea. Turns out, one of those invisible platforms had saved her life. "...Granny! I can fly~!"

Marie just pinched the bridge of her nose, her free hand taking the zapfish that fluttered into her arms as she started walking towards the super jump pad. She just wanted to get back to the cabin where her booze was chilling...

=====  
 **Paradise Lanes: Get the Ball Rolling**

"Octo ballers and spinning platforms? Are you sure giving her the roller for this was the best idea, Sheldon?"

"Are you concerned about her, or do you like seeing her suffer? Make up your mind on Agent 4 already."

"First of off, rude. I do not need that sass under the pressure I'm under--"

"Agent 4 is doing most of the work, and you're sitting on the sidelines with a bottle of rum."

" _SECONDLY_. She can annoy me at times, sure, but I don't enjoy seeing her get nearly and needlessly splatted... Most of the time." 

"So you do like her?"

"...It may be the booze making me hear things, but I don't particularly like the tone you used in that statement."

"Well, is it so wrong to be a little honest with your emotions? And there's nothing wrong with Agent 4; she's well meaning and kind--"

" _And dating Agent Three!_ "

"As well as another girl, from what I hear. Clearly they're the types to enjoy... larger relationships. You've been seeking companionship for a while now, why not test the waters and ask if you can join?"

"Well--"

_"GRAAAAANNY! HEEEEEELP!"_

"...That. That's why, Sheldon."

"Duly noted, I will drop the subject."

=====

Large spinning platforms floated above the water, precariously carrying Octo Ballers to the other side where they would inevitably fall to their deaths. A rather questionable design by the Octarians, but the platform shifting from wide to thin as it slowly spun made it difficult for anyone to trek across, Octarian or Inkling. One such inkling stood at the far end, watching the Ballers roll down and cover the path in magenta, randomly overriding her yellow paths she tried to create. This would be difficult...

Seeing her agent seeming to struggle with her timing, Marie decided to give a bit of motivation, eyeing a group of balloons floating above the platform. _"Look at those balloons. Look at how they mock you. Are you going to stand for that?"_

Daisy looked up at where her superior directed, sticking out her tongue as if taunting them back. She wasn't about to be mocked by some balloons! Jumping down onto the platform, she showed those dumb orbs who was boss! It was Daisy, she was the boss, making them them _pop pop pop_ with a few flings of her roller! She was the best!

Only she was so focused on the balloons, that Daisy wasn't paying attention to the Octo Ballers, one of which decided to roll right into poor Agent 4. She let out a pained squeak before falling down... and sliding off the platform into the water below, getting sent to the last spawner like a chump, and definitely not a boss.

_"...Okay, that one was on me. Sorry about that."_

=====

_"The Octo ballers truly are magnificent things, aren't they?"_ Marie mused as Daisy watched a series of them roll down a path, three of them balancing atop one another perfectly.

"I can't even balance my Chocolate Puffs on my spoon..." Lamenting what was probably the events of that very morning, Daisy skillfully ducked, dodged, and panicked around the spherical Octarians, pushing her way up the furthest path only to find--

 _"Aw, what? It's blocked off?"_ Marie proclaimed surprise for the both of them. Indeed, the wall up the side Daisy had expected to take was covered in a plastic-like tarp, unable to be inked and therefore climbed. _"Guess you'll have to go back and find another way."_

Daisy looked back and all around the platform she was on. There _were_ no other walls to climb, much to her dismay, yet she knew the older agent would get upset with her if she quit there. With a whine, the yellow inkling started backtracking, her neck hurting from having to look behind her for those magnificent Octo Ballers.

=====  
 **The Octogalaxy: One with the Cosmos**

_"Stay Fresh, Agent 4!"_

"You got it~!"

For once, Daisy and Marie seemed to be fairly in sync, the airhead doing just as her superior spoke leading her to progress with surprising speed.

 _"Fancy footwork, Agent 4~"_ Daisy let out a giggle at the compliment, showing off as she jumped from grind rail to boost pad and back on the rail, nabbing several calamari rings as she went. 

_"Side hop!"_ From rail to rail, the fresh Agent leapt in fluid motion, almost making it look too easy~ _"Lookin' slick, squidkid!"_ And Daisy was just thriving off of the praise, the positive reinforcement being just what she needed to kick up her progress to the max! So motivated, she was even jumping down a grind rail, grabbing rings out of the air, and landed on the platform at the bottom before the rail had even finished forming!

It only took her a few minutes after that to finish up the course, jumping up as she freed the zapfish from its prison. _"Well done, Agent 4~! Didn't waste any time finishing this kettle up!"_ Honestly, Marie was happy to give her all the praise; despite the troubles she caused the idol from time to time, she really was proud of Daisy's progress. Though she started growing concerned as there was only silence on the other end of the radio, her protege becoming rather quiet all of a sudden. _"...Something the matter, Four?"_

"...I missed all the secrets."

 _"..."_ Now it was Marie's turn to be silent as she watched Daisy plonk the zapfish back into its prison.

"I'm gonna go again~"

Marie let out a slow sigh, burying her face in her hands. She should have expected something like this. _"Of course you are..."_

=====  
 **Underground Expressway: Octobrush with Danger**

_"I need practical combat data on this weapon, could you use it for me?"_ Sheldon interrupted as Daisy entered the last kettle, the familiar drone swooping overhead to give her a weapon. _"If you love getting up close and personal, the Herobrush is the weapon for you!"_ Despite watching Agent 4 receive the Herobrush, both her and Marie were dead silent, almost as if they were giving the little arms dealer matching judgemental stares. _"...Is something the matter?"_

Marie sighed, for once not because of a certain airhead. _"Sheldon. This is the last kettle in Octo Canyon. The only other one after this is, I hope, the boss kettle where Callie is hopefully being kept. And you choose now to introduce a new weapon?"_

_"...So is something the matter with that?"_

Both Marie and Daisy let out annoyed groans, the older of the two cracking open a new bottle on her end. She felt like she was starting to tolerate larger quantities of alcohol in one sitting, and she didn't know how to feel about that. _"Agent 4, just... get this over with quickly."_

Daisy shook her head, lazily slapping the end of her brush against the ground. "It'd be quicker with a bucket..."

 _"I heard that! What's wrong with the brush?! It's perfectly useful for--"_ A simultaneous click of the agents shutting off their headsets from both ends ended the conversation.

=====

Now that neither Marie nor Sheldon could make her focus on the task at hand, Daisy had a chance to look around and marvel at how delightfully pretty the scenery could be. Confetti, stars in the back, actual fireworks~! The occasional enemy autobomb reminder she was on the clock, and with how she had easily fallen off a platform while watching the pretty lights, she knew she had to put her focus on the task before her. Especially when she found...

"Oh no..."

Invisible walkways. Her old enemy. A whimper escaped her lips, memories of the last kettle with see-through paths haunting her mind and making her hesitate. Of course, if Marie were to check in on her and she wasn't progressing, there might be a chance she would get in trouble. "J-just ink the path... Easy..." Placing her Herobrush on the ground in front of her, Daisy proceeded extremely slowly, letting the brush paint her path like a walking stick to a blind squid. Thankfully, it wasn't too far from the next jump pad where she could return to opaque flooring.

The joy of solid ground and her delight of seeing where she was going was only temporary, sadly. Yet another invisible platform sat before her... At least she thought one did. The Tentakook floating on air was probably a good indication that there was a floor there, even if she couldn't see it. Despite the thin path of ink it left behind as it ran, this only made it harder for Daisy now that she had to run after something without falling to her demise. 

"No don't run away! Please stay still, I can't-- Oh COD, GROUND!" In her attempts to chase the Tentakook ('chase' being used in the broadest of definitions considering how slowly she ran across the invisible platform), Daisy sadly lost track of her footing, the poor squid tumbling off of the nothingness that made of the ground before sending her into the void. 'Safety features' brought her back to the last respawn pad, the poor agent sighing as she stared down the transparent road supposedly before her. 

Grumbling under her breath, Daisy pushed herself back to her feet and raised a hand to her headset. "Granny? You there?" Despite her checking, Marie had not yet turned her own end of the communication line back on, so she was left with no one to talk to. Looking around as if seeing if there was anyone watching her nearby, Daisy kicked at the ground before whispering a small " _Frick,_ " under her breath, ears growing hot as if embarrassed by the use of a swear word. Without another peep she pushed on, leading her Herobrush down the path and praying for an easier time with the invisible pathways.

=====

Unfortunately for Marie, turning off communications meant she couldn't observe Daisy's progress through the kettle, leaving the young agent on complete radio silence during her mission. The downside (sometimes) of getting a few minutes of silence without one of Sheldon's rants. Waiting until her worry outweighed her annoyance, Marie eventually clicked her little television back on, watching the video feed from Agent 4's headset to come back to life on the screen.

_"Weeee~!"_

...Currently, Daisy was hopping over a number of booster tracks with a bunch of Octo Troopers, the whole lot of them seeming to be having quite a fun time without their respective supervisors reminding them they need to fight. Without a word, Marie turned the tv back off. Maaaaybe give her another few minutes, see what her status was after a glass.

=====

The final kettle.

It's been a long time coming.... actually, it hasn't even been a week since Marie recruited Daisy-- _holy shit it felt like longer to her_. Did Agent 3 go this fast too?

Currently, Marie was drinking her first glass of water in a few hours, a pitiful attempt to sober up for the final fight. Agent 4 was giving it her all, so what excuse did Marie have to slouch on her part of the job? It felt like a losing battle though, her mind was just elsewhere at the moment. Yes, she was still slightly intoxicated, but that wasn't the point. She was too worried about...

_"Lookin' out at me, getting ready ready ready ready for that~"_

Callie. She was in danger, and probably more scared than Marie was, but she needed her help. Callie could always do the panicking and excitement for both of them; Marie preferred to keep calm, because she knew how out of control her emotions could get. Callie knew too. That's why she always gave out enough energy for them both...

_"Make it out of town, can I really really really really know~?"_

Callie was there for her, always. Now that it was Marie's turn to help her partner, what was she doing? Getting drunk while someone else did all the work? It was a horrid feeling, needing someone else to save her cousin, her sister. As much as she complained about the girl, she was hopeless without Daisy. Just like she was without Callie...

_"Don't leeeeet, don't let me down~ But can it beeeee~ That it's already gonna be alright~! Cuz I really, really knew you were mine, mine, madamada miu~"_

She missed Callie. So much that she could practically hear her singing now.

...Wait a second, was she plastered? She wasn't just hearing things now, was she?! That was definitely singing, and it was definitely Callie's song! Coming from--

_"Can't you see that I need your love~ I need you for it, for it, for it, together for me~ You lucked out~ You lucky lover you, tomorrow with you--"_

"Daisy?!"

Daisy's singing cut out with a surprised squeak as Marie watched the headset camera tumble and hit the ground. It didn't get damaged, being made of sturdier stuff than that, but it was pretty clear that Daisy just took a fall. _"S-sorry Granny! I wasn't really paying attention..."_

"No, it's... That song you were singing..." Marie had been absolutely flabbergasted when Daisy told her she hadn't heard of the Squid Sisters, so how on earth did she know that song?

_"Oh, yeah! I heard this pretty fresh tune on my way over here this morning~ It's sorta been stuck in my head~ Guess some of it slipped out~?"_

"I... I see..." A smile slowly spread over Marie's lips as she leaned back in her seat. Daisy probably didn't realize it, but she did a pretty good job at distracting the idol from her earlier nervousness. "Okay... Time to focus, Agent 4. One last kettle, and we can save Callie."

_"Wait, was Callie your cat, or your sister? I forget~"_

"She's..." Marie chuckled, nothing could phase this girl from her personality, it seemed. "...She's like a sister to me. And we're gonna bring her back."

 _"Kaykaaaay~!"_ With an excited fistpump, Daisy jumped into the final kettle as it spun into the abyss below. No more distractions! Nothing could stop the Squidbeak Splatoon now~!

=====

_"I could REALLY use more data on this weapon. Could you use it for a bit?"_ Well, except maybe Sheldon. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! I attempt Squid Sister fluff/angst! If you couldn't tell by the fact I made Marie an alcoholic, I'm not very good at keeping them in character~!
> 
> As for the sudden Octo Samurai rematch, I actually did attempt a speedrun of that level with a bucket around that time in my first playthrough! 46 seconds is my best time with Slosher, and it took me, like, half an hour and god knows how many attempts to shave off those last two seconds to beat my Hero Shot. I finally have best time in all levels with the slosher! Daisy would be so proud of me~
> 
> I used the lyrics for Daisy's singing from Caitlin Koi's Bomb Rush Blush video, go check it out for yourself later.
> 
> Right! One final battle to save the entire world! And yes I do mean Callie! Yeah, the final boss fight is actually long enough to warrant its own chapter, so expect that by... I dunno, Monday maybe? Like I've said, this is all written already, but I need to edit format for each chapter, so I need a few days rest in-between so I don't fry mah brain. Will Daisy succeed? Or will she get crushed like a can of sardines!? 
> 
> ...I mean it's not like I would kill off Daisy in an angsty fashion in a comedy fic, right?
> 
> Thanks for reading, and have a wonderful night!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final boss stands before the NSS. Can Daisy overcome the most powerful Great Octoweapon yet? Or will her ditzy nature leave her a puddle on the ground?
> 
> It'll probably be both, actually.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, I said I'd get this done by Monday, and it is currently Tuesday. But I have a good reason for this!
> 
> ...Yeah, I got nothing. I was playing Minecraft with friends all day yesterday.

=====  
 **Bomb Rush Blush: Tide Goes Out**

Daisy squeaked as her landing was greeted by the roar of a crowd, the poor inkling having not expected an audience of all things. Giving a sheepish wave to the people, she took a few hesitant steps towards the other person on the platform. That person being...

 _"Wait... is that... Callie?!"_ Marie felt like her hearts were about to stop. Why was Callie here? She expected her cousin to be tied up, not standing freely wearing Octarian clothing! 

Much to her horror, the gray idol could see a pair of colorful shades covering Callie's eyes as she turned around, arms crossed in a rather unwelcoming stance. "I told you to leave..."

Daisy looked at the kidnapped idol across from her, tensions raising in the air between them... before she raises her Heroshot to aim at the Squid Sister. "FOE!"

 _"NO!"_ Marie cried out in a panic. The last thing she needed was her agent splatting her cousin! _"Friend! Don't shoot!"_ Hoping those orders would keep Daisy occupied, Marie turned her attention back to Callie, remotely switching the inkling's headset so she could hear her. _"Callie... Why?"_

Instead of answering, Callie struck a sick JoJo pose, the air feeling more intense than before. "Now you leave me no choice... Prepare to be rocked!" Pointing upward, the section of the stage Callie was standing on began to rise, colorful lights going off around her like a stage. "Hey, DJ!" The Octobot King II rose into the air, revealing its sinister pilot to the Splatoon: DJ Octavio, seeming to smirk with malicious intent as his machine absorbed the power of the Great Zapfish.

Below them was Agent 4, looking upon the massive menacing machinery that stood before her, threatening to smash her to bits until there was nothing but an ink stain left. "...Friend?"

_"Four, that's the bad guy! Not your friend!"_

"Well could you, like, make up your mind already, Granny?! Am I shooting someone today or not?!"

Marie groaned, the younger girl's newly developed sass wasn't helping with her rising headache. She couldn't think, there was too much going on! _"Look, just... I'll be there in a minute! Just shoot the fists and everything should work out! I think!"_

This caught Daisy by surprise, the agent looking behind her as if Marie were actually there. "Wait, fists?"

_**SPLAT!** _

Yes, fists. Like the giant metal one that's embedded in the ground where Daisy was standing moments ago. The hiss of the respawn pad signaled her return as she fell to her knees, Marie's voice popping back up in her headset. _"Yeah, those. Just shoot the fists and don't get hit. Come on, you can do it!"_ Despite Marie's rare encouraging words, Daisy didn't get up immediately, still crouched at where she fell over. _"...Four? You okay?"_

"J-just a sec... I think my insides are still respawning..."

Understandable for her to still be reeling after a hit like that. Still, Marie pulled out her cellphone and dialed up Sheldon, stripping of her kimono and pulling out her Squid Sister uniform. No more sitting around, it was time to get to action! Hopefully she was sober enough to dress herself though. _"Sheldon? Get the truck."_

=====

"Take this~!" Using curling bombs to get up close, Daisy lobbed a splat bomb right at the Octarian pilot... only to watch it dissolve against its barrier. 

_"Four, he has a barrier,"_ Marie pointed out, watching Daisy unload her inktank trying to fire at said shield. _"Four, that won't work!"_

"Aww, but that's how I've dealt with the others!"

_"It... actually isn't. There's been more steps than just shooting the tentacle."_

"Yeah, but I mostly zoned those parts out of mah brain since then~"

Marie sighed, shaking her head as she watched Sheldon pull the hovering truck around the Cabin. _"So it would seem. Also, shower."_

"Oh, no thanks~ I took one this mornin-- BLEGH!"

She probably should have specified that Octavio was using his shower attack and that Daisy should dodge it, but at this point she was just glad for the few seconds of silence. _"Sheldon, a bit faster, please?"_

=====

**"GHHK!"** Octavio's oh-so graceful cry was followed by his equally graceful fall out of the Octobot King, falling into a puddle of green ink.

 _"Okay, now you can fire at the tentacle,"_ Marie pointed out, watching Daisy jump with glee before just absolutely soaking the DJ in green, sending him flying back into the machine. _"Callie! It's Marie, your cousin! You need to snap out of it!"_

"Nggh!" Despite her pleas, Callie shook her head and regained her composure, still under the control of the cackling Octarian ruler. "DJ! Turn up those spicy wasabi beats!"

"Aw man, I hate spicy foods..." Bemoaning her situation, Daisy took aim as one of the DJ's fists began to spin before flying right at her. 

_"Wait, Agent 4!"_ Sheldon's voice cracked through her headset, interrupting her concentration. _"You can't hit back the spinning fists!"_

"Ah--" With no time to move, Daisy tilted her head back and watched as the fist came straight at her. With a near deafening bang, the audience cheered as they watched the smoke clear from around where the fist had landed.

 _"What--"_  
"The--"  
 **"FUCK?!"**

Both the Squid Sister's and Octavio's surprise broke through the resounding cheers and surprised gasps of the audience. As the smoke cleared, everyone could see the scene left behind. Shockingly, Daisy hadn't moved out of the way of the fist; she dodged it without moving at all, the agent crouching down just barely in front of where the Octobot's fist had embedded itself in the ground. As it flew back to his side, Octavio felt a cold chill go up his spine. Was this really just some kid like Agent 3? Or did the Splatoon hire some sort of professional soldier? He always felt confident in his schemes since he knew the inklings haven't had a proper military since the Great Turf War, but there's no way an amateur could have pulled off a stunt like that! What kind of monster was he facing against?!

Marie meanwhile was quick to toss aside her shock to check in on the inkling, trying to will the truck to get there sooner. _"Agent 4, that was amazing! How did you dodge that so easily?!"_

Daisy sniffle, rubbing her nose as she pushed herself back to her feet. "I sneezed... Wasabi makes me sneezy. Sorta like pepper?"

_"Ah... Bless you, Four."_

=====

Octavio growled as he fell out of the Octo Weapon a second time. Honestly, why did he keep throwing punches?! But as he pushed himself up, he knew he was ready. The kid thought she was clever with that gun of hers? Well, let's see how well she fairs in hand-to-hand! As ruler of the Octarians, he was an expert in CQC, his tentacles like eight lethal weapons once he got up close. No more games, no more hiding behind his machines! Now he would show these brats the real strength of the Octarian army!

...Except once he was upright, Octavio realized he was surrounded. Ten autobombs stood around him in a circle, each staring menacingly despite lacking faces. **"...Fuck."** The simultaneous explosion from Daisy's autobomb army was enough to send him crashing back into his pilot seat. Okay, so maybe close quarters wasn't such a good idea against someone like her...

=====

Marie groaned in annoyance, balancing her charger on her shoulder. The arena was right in front of them, yet instead of flying in to save the day like she planned, Sheldon was just circling the place. It was making her dizzy, and that was not a good thing when she still wasn't entirely sober. "Sheldon, what are we waiting for! Let's go!"

"We can't!" the horseshoe crab called back, keeping his eyes on the non-existant road. "I saw Agent 4's performance so far! This truck can tank swarms of excited squidkids, but one hit from one of those fists, and we'll be crushed like a can of sardines! We need a distraction!"

A light bulb (probably looking like a zapfish) practically glowed over Marie's head as she came to a realization, pulling up her headset. "Hold that thought, and get ready to drive in! Agent Four!"

_"Yes Granny?"_

"I need you to be as _you_ as possible!"

...

"Kaykaaaay~!" Swimming up to Octavio, the inkling flung a bomb at his ride to catch his attention, the explosive doing its job at being bad as an explosive but good as a distraction. "Hey stinky~!"

 **"What!"** Octavio growled back, having had enough of this girl already.

In response, Daisy put a finger to her lower eyelid and stuck out her tongue. "Bleeeeeeh~!"

 **"Oh, you're fucking dead!"** His back to the oncoming truck, Octavio launched two spinning fists right at the agent, causing Daisy to squeak and swim away before Squidbagging at a distance. **"You annoying little menace!"**

Lucky, this left the DJ's guard down for Sheldon to drive in with the tour truck, Marie taking aim from on top. "Hold on! I'm here!" she called out, looking through her scope at her cousin. "Now, let's see if I'm sober enough to pull this off..."

Sheldon blinked, suddenly very worried for Callie's sake. "Wait wha--"

 _pew_ "AHHH!"

The sound of charger fire followed by Callie's yell made the DJ panic, unable to stop his plans from being foiled right in front of him. **"NOOOOO! The hypno--"** Just then, a familiar pair of shades clattered onto Octavio's console from above, undamaged and pretty obvious where they came from. **"...shades?"**

"Agh! You shot me in the boob!"

"Well maybe if you weren't spinning-- I mean, snap out of it, Callie!"

...How did he keep losing to these kids?

=====

"Callie! Remem-- ah fuck." Marie shouted out, pulling out a stereo before promptly letting it tumble out of her hands. She put it up right and clicked a button before returning her attention to her cousin. "Remember! That heavenly melody!" Sure, this was probably crazy, but would a sober person think something like this would work?

Callie, still dazed from her hypnosis, copied Marie's stance from her own stage. "The one and only..." And like that, everything clicked back into place. Every fond moment, friendly dispute, SplatFest event... every memory came back to her in a rush of emotions. "I... I remember..." With all her strength, Callie leapt from the Octobot King and over to the top of the truck, into the waiting arms of her cousin. It was a sweet sight, seeing the Squid Sisters hug after so long...

Only for Callie to promptly push Marie away at arms length, her face scrunched up with a sour look. " _Ugh?_ Eww, Marie, why do you smell like alcohol???"

"That's not important," the gray squid assured her, grabbing Callie's idol uniform and shoving it into her arms. "Just put this on."

"Wh-- Right here?!"

"Yes, now hurry! Not a lot of time, and we have a show to do!"

"B-but I can't get changed here! There are people watching!"

Marie looked over at the people in question: not counting the massive audience, Octavio and Daisy were patiently watching the sisters on the truck instead of fighting. They heard everything, but neither seemed to fight and miss out on the 'show' before the concert. "...Go on," Agent 4 hummed.

Marie grumbled, picking up her charger and taking aim before firing a warning shot. Octavio laughed from his seat, crossing his tentacles. **"Hah! You can't hit me with that thing! Callie might be gone, but my barrier is still up!"** It was a good thing she wasn't aiming for him then.

"AHH! YOU SHOT ME IN THE BOOB!" Daisy cried out, arms crossed as she rolled on the ground. Their ink color may have been the same, but that didn't mean a high-pressured shot fired to the tit didn't hurt!

Octavio was silent for a moment before taking the hint, the Octobot King slowly turning around while Daisy clutched her chest in pain.

=====

_Ya! Weni! Marei! Mirekyarahire!  
Juri! Yu mirekerason! Kire! Hyari! Yoriherahe nyurahera~   
Nunny ura unera yurawera nyimerani~!_

As the opening notes of the Calamari Inkantation rang out, the stage and the audience came to life with its melodious beats. Some were changing or humming along, and others were seeing the light for perhaps the first time. Just this one magical song could change their world entirely, the domes coming to life for the first time in a long time.

Daisy thought it was alright. Nice beat, she didn't know Granny and her cute sister(?) could sing though~ Her musings were interrupted by the familiar whirl of a drone's propeller, one of Sheldon's bots coming to drop her something off. With a huff, she dropped her Heroshot and jumped to grab it, landing on her feet with an 'oof'. _"Agent 4!"_ the small arms dealer called out over her headset. _"I got you a modified Rainmak--"_

"A Super Bucket~!" Daisy gasped in delight, hefting the weapon on her shoulder.

 _"Wha..."_ Sheldon was stunned. He's had to hear Daisy say some ridiculous things in his time working with the Splatoon, but this took the cake for him! _"No! No, it's a Rainmaker! Like the Ranked mode?! It doesn't even look like a bucket! Or a Slosher! I spent the last two nights working on this thing so you would have an easier time fighting the OctoWeapons, and you call it a bucket when it clearly isn't?! Are you insane? Daft even?! How could you not know what a Rainmaker is-- You aren't even holding it the same way you would a Slosher!"_

Daisy was quiet for a moment, letting Sheldon simmer in his rant before grinning to the truck as it flew by. "...Super Bucket~"

There was a long pause before Sheldon let out a slow sigh. _"I wish I could quit you..."_

With a giggle, Daisy was off to the Super Jump pad, zooming upward onto ride rails above. It was time to finish this, and get some Crusty Sean's for dinner~

=====

Octavio growled as his systems locked onto the inkling, keeping her in his sights as she rode the rails around the arena. His barrier was good enough for bombs and basic inkling artillery, but he knew Rainmakers were heavy as hell in firepower! As long as he kept his distance and fired his fists from a distance, he should be fine.

...Is what he thought. Somehow, even from this far away, the annoying brat was kicking the crap out of him! It didn't matter what he fired at her! She either shot his own attacks back at him, or dodged to another rail, fearlessly and with sublime grace. This wasn't an ordinary inkling! Not like that scum Agent 3, not like the Squid Sisters...

This squid was a monster, almost as if the rumors floating around his underlings' barracks were true. She was a soldier with far, far more training than he was prepared for. A specialist with a mind for combat and military strategy. There was no other explanation! How else could she pose such a threat to not only him, but his entire army in such short time! It hasn't even been a week since he kidnapped Callie! What could possibly going on in that head of hers that she could outsmart even the great DJ Octavio?!

Daisy, on her end, was completely zoned out, having a super fun time riding the rails to the beat of the Squid Sister's song. She was even humming along~ Though every now and again she would glance over to where the Octobot King was, giving her plenty of time to hop over a fist, squidbag on the rail, and fire her Rainmaker for fun. Honestly, why wasn't she allowed to use this in Turf, it was awesome~!

"Marie..." Callie spoke up during the instrumental break, the idols watching Daisy hop around and Octavio missing by a hair, giving her a mini heart attack each time. "Is that kid gonna be okay?"

"Be quiet and sing, Callie," was Marie's response, her body swaying a bit as she danced.

"What? Wait, how can I be quiet and sing? That makes no sense--"

"BE QUIET AND SING!"

"Eep! I'm sorry!"

=====

**"No no no no NONONONO!"** Despite Octavio's pleas, system failures continued to pop up around his console, the Octobot King having sustained far too much damage to continue its operations. As the engines cut out, the massive body of metal and machinery plummeted to the ground, knocking the air out of the DJ and leaving him helpless.

"Now, Four! Finish this!" Marie called out as their song hit it's crescendo, hyping up the finale. Daisy raised a thumbs up and hopped onto the inner rail, coming in towards the middle right above the downed Octarian. She knew how to play Rainmaker, and exactly what came next! Lifting the 'Super Bucket' above her head, Daisy twirled and leapt into the air, aimed right for Octavio--

"WOOMY~!"

=====  
 **~Two days later~**

"WAIT! Shut it, Marina! We've got another breaking news alert!"

Marina flinched at her partner's sudden outburst, stopping her from playing the stage reveal. "But I didn't say anythin--"

Pearl didn't let her finish as the screen behind them changed to show the face of Callie Cuttlefish, with the headline 'Missing Pop Star Returns' scrawled on the bottom. "HOLY CARP! Callie's been found! Are you guys seeing this? Now THAT'S news!" Sure, the return of the Great Zapfish moments before was also pretty neat, but who needed a power source when you had a smile as bright as Callie's? 

"Callie is back? YAAAAAAAAY~" Marina cheered, especially glad to see the duo that has enlightened her and many other Octolings reunited at last. "I didn't know if I'd ever see her again!"

"Yo, Marina. Let's drop a new track to celebrate!"

"Sure thing, Pearl~" Marina giggled as she set up a record on her table, already having one in demand. "I've got just the jam. This next song request comes from 'Freshly Fried Boy'. It's the new hit single from the Squid Sisters, Fresh Start~!"

As the news feed cut out, the familiar tones of the Squid Sisters rang out across the hub in melodious harmony. Squids and Octolings jammed lightly to the softer tones of the ballad, each listening keenly to the chorus as it touched their souls. 

A certain yellow inkling hummed along with the tune as she made her way across the Plaza, lugging a Bloblobber Deco behind her. Despite her eagerness for Turf, she took a moment to enjoy the music as it floated around her. "This is nice~ Maybe I'll get a copy. I'm sure Granny would like this band~"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with that, the story comes to a close... Or does it?
> 
> I actually got two or three chapters worth of material I can post after this (which might take a few days before posting for each), plus something new I wanted to try and write up (which will take a bit longer). After that, I'll probably put the story on complete unless I come up with new bits or something. _Splatoon 3, perhaps~? We'll have to see in 2022!_
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading, and have a wonderful night!

**Author's Note:**

> Bweh, moving this from discord is taking a bit longer than I thought. Anyway, will get the next chapter out in the next few days, only because it's a bit shorter than the others! I'll explain once it's out. It's unfortunate Lilly doesn't get much screentime in this story, but the girl is running a flower shop and teaching ballet. Poor thing is too busy to be an agent at the moment!
> 
> Daisy: Blonde pigtails and wears a cat-eared headband, average height, busty  
> Lilly: Lilac topknot with long back tentacles, curvy tall girl!  
> Rose: Pink topknot+wavy hair, around Daisy's height, slender
> 
> Thanks for reading, and have a wonderful night.


End file.
